Star profile

Wezen

Delta Canis Majoris · Canis Major

Highly luminous star

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is Wezen

Wezen, from the Arabic for «the heavy one», is a yellow supergiant set in Canis Major, some 1,607 light-years from the Earth, distant even by the stellar standards of its kind. Its name describes with surprising accuracy what modern astronomers confirmed centuries later: a vast, slow star of overwhelming mass and luminosity sustained over long ages. The light reaching a European observer tonight left the star while the Visigothic kingdoms still ruled almost the entire Iberian peninsula, and the old Roman roads were just beginning to fade under the undergrowth.

Where it is and when to see it

Wezen 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: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.

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Astronomical data for Wezen

Constellation: Canis Major
Apparent magnitude: 1.83
Distance: 1606.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 107.098° · Dec -26.393°
Catalogue: HIP 34444 · HD 54605

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

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