Canopus

Famous Stars

Canopus

I chose famous stars to research next because I am very interested in learning about the stars I’ve seen every night, but never knew anything about.

Canopus is the second brightest star in the night sky & also the brightest one in the constellation Carina, the Ship's Keel. Some think the origin of the name comes from a city in ancient Egypt of the same name, located to the east of Alexandria. Others think it might be named after the helmsman who steered the king of Sparta's ship during the Trojan war.

Source

Star: Canopus ( α Carinae)

Chemical Components: magnesium (Mn)

Calcium (Ca)

Iron (Fe)

Strontium (Sr)

Spectrum Analysis (of most abundant component: Magnesium):

Source

Location: Right Ascension-  06h 23m 57.1099s

                 Declination- −52° 41′ 44.378″

Stellar Classification: F

      Supergiant

Source

References: http://www.universetoday.com/45775/famous-stars/

http://www.astronoo.com/en/stars.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canopus

http://www.astronoo.com/en/brightest-stars.html