Star profile

Iota Canis Majoris

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class B · ~15,000 K

What is Iota Canis Majoris

Iota Canis Majoris is a B3 Ib blue supergiant, a beast of fourteen solar masses and fifty-two thousand solar luminosities, burning at 15600 degrees from about three thousand light-years away. Its light set out from the Greater Dog before the pyramids of Giza were built, and arrives now with faint variations —tremors that place it at the edge of the Beta Cephei pulsators. It is a star in its twilight, with only a few million years left before collapse.

Where it is and when to see it

Iota 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 21° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 32° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 73° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 73° N.

It ranks no. 16 in brightness among the 90 stars of Canis Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Sirius, the brightest: it lies about 3° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 2,500 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Iota Canis Majoris

Constellation: Canis Major
Apparent magnitude: 4.36
Distance: 2509.2 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 104.034° · Dec -17.054°
Catalogue: HIP 33347 · HD 51309

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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