Procyon

Procyon (Template:IPAc-en)<ref name=Kunitzsch>Template:Cite book</ref> is the brightest star in the constellation of Canis Minor and usually the eighth-brightest star in the night sky, with an apparent visual magnitude of 0.34.<ref name=aaa413/> It has the Bayer designation α Canis Minoris, which is Latinized to Alpha Canis Minoris, and abbreviated α CMi or Alpha CMi, respectively. As determined by the European Space Agency Hipparcos astrometry satellite,<ref name=GSM/> this system lies at a distance of just Template:Convert,<ref name=aaa474_2_653/> and is therefore one of Earth's nearest stellar neighbors.

A binary star system, Procyon consists of a white-hued main-sequence star of spectral type F5 IV–V, designated component A, in orbit with a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type DQZ,<ref name=Provencal2002/> named Procyon B. The pair orbit each other with a period of 40.84 years and an eccentricity of 0.4.

Observation

File:Hubble heic0206j.jpg

Procyon (top left), Betelgeuse (top right) and Sirius (bottom) form the Winter Triangle. Orion is to the right. Viewed from Northern Hemisphere

Procyon is usually the eighth-brightest star in the night sky, culminating at midnight on 14 January.Template:Sfn It forms one of the three vertices of the Winter Triangle asterism, in combination with Sirius and Betelgeuse.Template:Sfn The prime period for evening viewing of Procyon is in late winter in the Northern Hemisphere.Template:Sfn

It has a color index of 0.42, and its hue has been described as having a faint yellow tinge to it.Template:Sfn

Stellar system

Procyon is a binary star system with a bright primary component, Procyon A, having an apparent magnitude of 0.34,<ref name=aaa413/> and a faint companion, Procyon B, at magnitude 10.7.<ref name="ApJ119_2"/> The pair orbit each other with a period of 40.84 years along an elliptical orbit with an eccentricity of 0.4,<ref name=Bond/> more eccentric than Mercury's. The plane of their orbit is inclined at an angle of 31.1° to the line of sight with the Earth.<ref name=aj119_5/> The average separation of the two components is Template:Val, a little less than the distance between Uranus and the Sun, though the eccentric orbit carries them as close as 8.9 AU and as far as 21.0 AU.<ref name=Kaler2011/>

Procyon A

The primary has a stellar classification of F5IV–V, indicating that it is a late-stage F-type main-sequence star. Procyon A is bright for its spectral class, suggesting that it is evolving into a subgiant that has nearly fused its hydrogen core into helium, after which it will expand as the nuclear reactions move outside the core.<ref name=aaa413/> As it continues to expand, the star will eventually swell to about 80 to 150 times its current diameter and become a red or orange color. This will probably happen within 10 to 100 million years.Template:Sfn

The effective temperature of the stellar atmosphere is an estimated Template:Val, giving Procyon A a white hue. It is 1.5 times the solar mass (Template:Solar mass), twice the solar radius (Template:Solar radius), and has seven times the Sun's luminosity (Template:Solar luminosity).<ref name=Bond/><ref name=Soubiran2024/> Both the core and the envelope of this star are convective; the two regions being separated by a wide radiation zone.<ref name=Liebert2013/>

Oscillations

In late June 2004, Canada's orbital MOST satellite telescope carried out a 32-day survey of Procyon A. The continuous optical monitoring was intended to confirm solar-like oscillations in its brightness observed from Earth and to permit asteroseismology. No oscillations were detected and the authors concluded that the theory of stellar oscillations may need to be reconsidered.<ref name=nature430_921/> However, others argued that the non-detection was consistent with published ground-based radial velocity observations of solar-like oscillations.<ref name=nature432_7015/><ref name=aaa432/> Subsequent observations in radial velocity have confirmed that Procyon is indeed oscillating.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Photometric measurements from the NASA Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) satellite from 1999 and 2000 showed evidence of granulation (convection near the surface of the star) and solar-like oscillations.<ref name=apj633/> Unlike the MOST result, the variation seen in the WIRE photometry was in agreement with radial velocity measurements from the ground. Additional observations with MOST taken in 2007 were able to detect oscillations.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Procyon B

File:Procyonorbitillustration.jpg

Orbit of Procyon B seen from above its plane

Like Sirius B, Procyon B is a white dwarf that was inferred from astrometric data long before it was observed. Its existence had been postulated by German astronomer Friedrich Bessel as early as 1844, and, although its orbital elements had been calculated by his countryman Arthur Auwers in 1862 as part of his thesis,<ref name=auwers/> Procyon B was not visually confirmed until 1896 when John Martin Schaeberle observed it at the predicted position using the 36-inch refractor at Lick Observatory.<ref name=burnham78/> It is more difficult to observe from Earth than Sirius B, due to a greater apparent magnitude difference and smaller angular separation from its primary.<ref name=Kaler2011/>

At Template:Solar mass, Procyon B is considerably less massive than Sirius B; however, the peculiarities of degenerate matter ensure that it is larger than its more famous neighbor, with an estimated radius of 8,600 km, versus 5,800 km for Sirius B.<ref name="Provencal2002"/><ref name=apj497/> The radius agrees with white dwarf models that assume a carbon core.<ref name="Provencal2002"/> It has a stellar classification of DQZ,<ref name=Provencal2002/> having a helium-dominated atmosphere with traces of heavy elements. For reasons that remain unclear, the mass of Procyon B is unusually low for a white dwarf star of its type.<ref name=Liebert2013/> With a surface temperature of Template:Val, it is also much cooler than Sirius B; this is a testament to its lesser mass and greater age. The mass of the progenitor star for Procyon B was about Template:Val and it came to the end of its life some Template:Val billion years ago, after a main-sequence lifetime of Template:Val million years.<ref name=Liebert2013/>

X-ray emission

Attempts to detect X-ray emission from Procyon with nonimaging, soft X-ray-sensitive detectors prior to 1975 failed.<ref name=apj202/> Extensive observations of Procyon were carried out with the Copernicus and TD-1A satellites in the late 1970s.<ref name=apj228_1/> The X-ray source associated with Procyon AB was observed on 1 April 1979, with the Einstein Observatory high-resolution imager (HRI).<ref name=apj540/> The HRI X-ray pointlike source location is ~4″ south of Procyon A, on the edge of the 90% confidence error circle, indicating identification with Procyon A rather than Procyon B which was located about 5″ north of Procyon A (about 9″ from the X-ray source location).<ref name=apj228_1/>

Etymology and cultural significance

α Canis Minoris (Latinized to Alpha Canis Minoris) is the star's Bayer designation.

The name Procyon comes from the Ancient Greek {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Template:Transliteration), meaning "before the dog", since it precedes the "Dog Star" Sirius as it travels across the sky due to Earth's rotation. (Although Procyon has a greater right ascension, it also has a more northerly declination, which means it will rise above the horizon earlier than Sirius from most northerly latitudes.) In Greek mythology, Procyon is associated with Maera, a hound belonging to Erigone, daughter of Icarius of Athens.<ref name=mw1999/> In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)<ref name="WGSN">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016<ref name="WGSN1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Procyon for the star α Canis Minoris A.

The two dog stars are referred to in the most ancient literature and were venerated by the Babylonians and the Egyptians, In Babylonian mythology, Procyon was known as Nangar (the Carpenter), an aspect of Marduk, involved in constructing and organizing the celestial sky.<ref name="kelley11">Template:Cite book</ref>

The constellations in Macedonian folklore represented agricultural items and animals, reflecting their village way of life. To them, Procyon and Sirius were Volci "the wolves", circling hungrily around Orion which depicted a plough with oxen.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Rarer names are the Latin translation of Procyon, Antecanis, and the Arabic-derived names Al Shira and Elgomaisa. Medieval astrolabes of England and Western Europe used a variant of this, Algomeiza/Algomeyza.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Al Shira derives from {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration, "the Syrian sign" (the other sign being Sirius; "Syria" is supposedly a reference to its northern location relative to Sirius); Elgomaisa derives from {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration "the bleary-eyed (woman)", in contrast to {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} "the teary-eyed (woman)", which is Sirius. (See Gomeisa.)

In Chinese, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), meaning South River, refers to an asterism consisting of Procyon, ε Canis Minoris and β Canis Minoris.<ref>Template:In lang 中國星座神話, written by 陳久金. Published by 台灣書房出版有限公司, 2005, Template:ISBN.</ref> Consequently, Procyon itself is known as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, the Third Star of South River).<ref>Template:In lang 香港太空館 – 研究資源 – 亮星中英對照表 Template:Webarchive, Hong Kong Space Museum. Accessed on line 23 November 2010.</ref> It is part of the Vermilion Bird.

The Hawaiians see Procyon as part of an asterism Ke ka o Makali'i ("the canoe bailer of Makali'i") that helps them navigate at sea.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Hawaiian language, this star is called Puana ("blossom"), which is a new Hawaiian name based on the Māori name Puangahori. It forms this asterism (Ke ka o Makali'i) with the Pleiades (Makali'i), Auriga, Orion, Capella, Sirius, Castor and Pollux.<ref name=brosch>Template:Cite book</ref> In Tahitian lore, Procyon was one of the pillars propping up the sky, known as Anâ-tahu'a-vahine-o-toa-te-manava ("star-the-priestess-of-brave-heart"), the pillar for elocution.<ref name=henry1907>Template:Cite journal</ref> Māori astronomers know the star as Puangahori ("False Puanga") which distinguishes it from its pair Puanga or Puanga-rua ("Blossom-cluster") which refers to a star of great importance to Māori culture and calendar, known by its western name Rigel.<ref name="Best22">Template:Cite book</ref>

Procyon appears on the flag of Brazil, symbolizing the state of Amazonas.<ref name=fotw/> The Kalapalo people of Mato Grosso state in Brazil call Procyon and Canopus Kofongo ("Duck"), with Castor and Pollux representing his hands. The asterism's appearance signified the coming of the rainy season and increase in food staple manioc, used at feasts to feed guests.<ref name="basso87">Template:Cite book</ref>

Known as Sikuliarsiujuittuq to the Inuit, Procyon was quite significant in their astronomy and mythology. Its eponymous name means "the one who never goes onto the newly formed sea ice", and refers to a man who stole food from his village's hunters because he was too obese to hunt on ice. He was killed by the other hunters who convinced him to go on the sea ice. Procyon received this designation because it typically appears red (though sometimes slightly greenish) as it rises during the Arctic winter; this red color was associated with Sikuliarsiujuittuq's bloody end.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

View from this system

Were the Sun to be observed from this star system, it would appear to be a magnitude 2.55 star in the constellation Aquila with the exact opposite coordinates at right ascension Template:RA, declination Template:DEC. It would be as bright as β Scorpii is in our sky.

Procyon's closest neighboring star is Luyten's Star, about Template:Convert away.<ref name=Annot/> Procyon would be the brightest star in the night sky of an exoplanet orbiting Luyten's Star, with an apparent magnitude of -4.68.Template:Efn Luyten's Star would also be visible from Procyon, at an apparent magnitude of 4.61, unlike any red dwarfs from Earth.

See also

• Procyon in astrology