Star profile

Xi 2 Canis Majoris

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is Xi 2 Canis Majoris

ξ² Canis Majoris shines within the Greater Dog, the constellation that hosts Sirius, the brightest star of the night sky. White and of A-type, some 441 light-years away, she is far more distant than her famous neighbour, yet shares the same celestial enclosure where the ancients saw Orion's hound chasing the hare.

Where it is and when to see it

Xi 2 Canis Majoris lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is January, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 16° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 26° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 79° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 67° N.

It ranks no. 21 in brightness among the 90 stars of Canis Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Sirius, the brightest: it lies about 7° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 440 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Xi 2 Canis Majoris

Constellation: Canis Major
Apparent magnitude: 4.54
Distance: 441.4 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 98.764° · Dec -22.965°
Catalogue: HIP 31416 · HD 46933

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Other stars in Canis Major

Canis Major has 90 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 90 stars in Canis Major