Star profile
29 Canis Majoris
Variable starWhat is 29 Canis Majoris
29 Canis Majoris is one of the most extreme creatures of the Greater Dog: a rare blue O-type star, variable in light, sitting nearly 1,900 light-years away. O stars are cosmically brief —they burn so violently they last only a few million years— and very few of them ever reach Flamsteed's catalogue. What glints in its place tonight set out almost two millennia ago, when Rome's last legionaries still lived.
Where it is and when to see it
29 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 14° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 25° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 81° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 65° N.
It ranks no. 27 in brightness among the 90 stars of Canis Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Sirius, the brightest: it lies about 11° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 1,900 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 29 Canis Majoris
- Constellation
- Canis Major
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.88
- Distance
- 1907.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 109.668° · Dec -24.559°
- Catalogue
- HIP 35412 · HD 57060
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Other stars in Canis Major
Canis Major has 90 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- SiriusAlpha Canis Majoris-1.44
- AdharaEpsilon Canis Majoris1.50
- WezenDelta Canis Majoris1.83
- HIP 318274.82
- 15 Canis Majoris4.82
- HIP 352104.83
- HIP 357274.94
- HIP 297355.00