Procyon

light-years
Proper names: Procyon, Alpha Canis Minoris, 10 Canis Minoris, The Little Dog Star
Catalog numbers:
     Gliese (Gl) 280, Henry Draper (HD) 61421, Bonner Durchmusterung (BD) +5°1739, Luyten Half-Second (LHS) 233, Hipparcos Input Catalog (HIC) 37279, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) 115756, Aitken Double Star (ADS) 6251, Fifth Fundamental Catalogue (FK5) 291, Hoffleit Bright Star (HR) 2943, New Suspected Variable (NSV) 3672
Age: 1700 million years
Source for age: B. Edvardsson et al., "Chemical Evolution of the Galactic Disc", A&AP 275
Heavy element abundance: 138% of Sol
Standard error in heavy element abundance: 30%
Source for heavy element abundance: Strobel [Fe/H] Determinations
Arity: binary
Points of interest:
     Like Sirius, Procyon is a doublet consisting of a regular main-sequence star and a white dwarf.  Unlike Sirius, Procyon A is unusually bright for its color and may be a subgiant.  Procyon B's average density is estimated at over two tons to the cubic inch, making it denser than Sirius B.

Right Ascension and Declination: 7h39m18.113s, +5°13'30.06" (epoch 2000.0)
Distance from Sol: 11.41 light-years (3.497 parsecs)
Standard error in distance: 0.3068%
Source for distance: Hipparcos
Celestial (X,Y,Z) coordinates in ly: -4.769, 10.31, 1.039
Galactic (X,Y,Z) coordinates in ly: -9.179, -6.220, 2.674
Proper motion: 1.247 arcsec/yr (214.5° from north)
Radial Velocity: -4 km/sec
Source for proper motion and radial velocity: Gliese
Galactic (U,V,W) velocity components in km/s: 5.233, -8.385, -18.59

What do all these fields mean?

Data for A and B's orbit around one other:
Combined absolute visual magnitude: +2.66
Combined visual luminosity: 7.509 x Sol
Period: 40.65 years
Semimajor Axis: 15.91 A.U.s
Eccentricity: 0.4
Periastron distance: 9.544 A.U.s
Apastron distance: 22.27 A.U.s
Year in which periastron occurs: 1927.6
Source for orbit data: K.A. Strand
As seen from A:
     At periastron, B would appear as magnitude -13.75
     At apastron, B would appear as magnitude -11.91
As seen from B:
     At periastron, A would appear as magnitude -24.01
     At apastron, A would appear as magnitude -22.17


Component A:
Spectral class: F5
Luminosity Class: IV-V
Apparent visual magnitude: +0.38
Absolute visual magnitude: +2.66
Visual luminosity: 7.508 x Sol
Color indices: B-V= +0.42, U-B= +0.02, R-I= +0.14
Mass: 1.78 x Sol
Diameter: 1.443 x Sol
Source for diameter: Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (Fracassini+ 1988)
Comfort Zone (visual): 2.740 A.U.s
Orbital period in CZ: 3.39965 years
Tidal index in CZ: 0.086523
Angular size of star in sky in CZ: 0.280823 degrees


Component B:
Catalog numbers:
     Eggen/Greenstein white dwarf (EG) 53
Spectral class: DA
Luminosity Class: wd
Apparent visual magnitude: +10.64
Absolute visual magnitude: +12.92
Visual luminosity: 0.000591 x Sol
Mass: 0.65 x Sol
Source for mass: Burnham's Celestial Handbook
Diameter: 0.0194 x Sol
Source for diameter: Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (Fracassini+ 1988)
Comfort Zone (visual): 0.0243 A.U.s
Orbital period in CZ: 1.71643 days
Tidal index in CZ: 45282.3
Angular size of star in sky in CZ: 0.425557 degrees

light-years
but not more than light-years away
Data for this star system were most recently updated on 11-May-2001.