Star profile

3 Canum Venaticorum

Cool red star

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

What is 3 Canum Venaticorum

3 Canum Venaticorum is one of those rare M-type stars visible to the unaided eye: a cool red giant set in the Hunting Dogs, just under the tail of the Great Bear. It glows with a deep reddish tone 590 light-years away, a stellar ember whose surface hovers around 3,500 K —far cooler than the Sun yet swollen to imposing dimensions. Through binoculars its warm colour stands clearly apart from the blue-white of its neighbours.

Where it is and when to see it

3 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 February, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it never sets and culminates about 87° up.
From New York it culminates about 82° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 7° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 41° S.

It ranks no. 13 in brightness among the 33 stars of Canes Venatici in our catalogue. To find it, start from Cor Caroli, the brightest: it lies about 12° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 590 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.

Leave your signature on 3 Canum Venaticorum

Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

Without a lock, someone else can replace your signature. How the lock works

We'll ask for an email to confirm it's you, no password.

Write my signature

A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.

Astronomical data for 3 Canum Venaticorum

Constellation: Canes Venatici
Apparent magnitude: 5.28
Distance: 589.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 184.953° · Dec 48.984°
Catalogue: HIP 60122 · HD 107274

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

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