Star profile

2 Canum Venaticorum

Cool red star

3D likeness based on its real data · class M · ~3,200 K

What is 2 Canum Venaticorum

2 Canum Venaticorum is a red giant, an M star so swollen that its radius exceeds about fifty solar radii. If it took the Sun's place, it would swallow Mercury without stopping and reach close to Venus's orbit. Its cool, reddish light crosses nearly eight hundred years to get here: it left in the late thirteenth century, when Arab and Latin astronomers were sharing tables and catalogues of the sky.

Where it is and when to see it

2 Canum Venaticorum lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is March, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it never sets and culminates about 79° up.
From New York it culminates about 90° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 15° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 49° S.

It ranks no. 21 in brightness among the 33 stars of Canes Venatici in our catalogue. To find it, start from Cor Caroli, the brightest: it lies about 8° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 770 years ago.

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Astronomical data for 2 Canum Venaticorum

Constellation: Canes Venatici
Apparent magnitude: 5.69
Distance: 771.2 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 184.031° · Dec 40.660°
Catalogue: HIP 59831 · HD 106690

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Other stars in Canes Venatici

Canes Venatici has 33 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 33 stars in Canes Venatici