Canopus

Alp

Highly luminous star

Its story

Canopus burns in the keel of the ship Argo with a fierce yellow-white glow, the second-brightest beacon of the entire night sky. Ancient mariners steered by it across southern oceans, and modern spacecraft still lock onto its light to find their bearings in the void. The glimmer reaching Earth tonight left Carina around 1716, when much of the world remained uncharted.

Constellation: Carina
Apparent magnitude: -0.62
Distance: 309.2 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 95.988° · Dec -52.696°
Catalogue: HIP 30438 · HD 45348

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Symbolic commemorative gift — no ownership, no IAU recognition.