Canopus
Yellow-white bright giant · Alpha Carinae
Second-brightest star in the night sky
A luminous yellow-white supergiant that ranks as the second-brightest nighttime star, Canopus long served as a navigation beacon for spacecraft because of its brilliance and southerly position.
Also on: The brightest stars in the night sky · Named stars, A to Z · The most luminous stars · Stars in Carina
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
13,305 ×
as bright as the Sun
7,557 K
surface · white star
307 ly
from Earth
-0.7
apparent magnitude
Visible to the naked eyeno equipment needed · apparent magnitude -0.7
It pours out about 13,305 times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 307 years to reach us, so you see Canopus as it was 307 years ago.
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in the Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableAlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple star
Stars of similar brightness
MiraRed giant (pulsating variable)8,892 ×SpicaBlue giant (close binary)20,512 ×MimosaBlue giant25,704 ×BellatrixHot blue giant star6,397 ×AcruxBlue subgiant (multiple system)31,117 ×HadarBlue giant31,623 ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→