Star Procyon

The star Procyon, also called "α Canis Minoris", is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minoriss. Its distance to Earth is 11.4 light-years, which makes it one of the nearest stars to the Sun. The star Arcturus is the main star in the constellation Bootes and the brightest star in the northern sky. Altogether it is the fourth brightest star in the entire sky.

Facts about Procyon

Procyon is part of the winter hexagon and the winter triangle. It has an apparent brightness of 0.37mag and therefore belongs to the brightest stars in the sky. Furthermore its light is yellowish-white, because it belongs to the spectral class F5. Procyon is classified as main sequence star and converts hydrogen into helium by nuclear fusion. Its mass is 1.5 times that of the sun and it is almost twice as large as the sun. Also the luminosity of Procyon is 7.7 times as large as the sun and its surface temperature is 6,650 Kelvin. Procyon is a binary stars, which consists of the main star Procyon A, a white-yellow star and the star Procyon B, a white dwarf.