Canopus
The etymology of the name comes from the Egyptian Coptic Kahi Nub,
Golden Earth, which refers to the way it would appear near the horizon
in Egypt and be correspondingly reddened by atmospheric extinction from that
position. There is also a ruined ancient Egyptian port, Canopus, apparently
specifically named for the star, near the mouth of the Nile; its site was the
location of the Battle of the Nile.
The Arabs knew Canopus as Suhel, the Plain. This word also was a personal
title in Arabia, the symbol of what is brilliant, glorious, and beautiful, and
even now among the nomads is thus applied to a handsome person.
Among the Persians Suhail is a synonym of wisdom, seen in the well-known
Al Anwar i Suhaili, the Lights of Canopus and referred to wise thought, the
brilliance of the mind.
Another occasional early title was Al Pahi, the Camel Stallion.
Canopus (a Car/a Carinae /Alpha Carinae) is the brightest star in the southern
constellation of Carina, The Keel. [Carina is one of three modern-day constellations
that formed the ancient constellation of Argo Navis, the ship Jason and the
Argonauts sailed in to search for the Golden Fleece. Two other constellations
form the Sail (Vela) and Stern (Puppis)]. Canopus is the second brightest star
in the sky, with a visual magnitude of -0.62, second only to Sirius.
Canopus is a yellowish-white supergiant star. It is located well into the southern
hemisphere, at a Declination of -52° 42' (2000) and a Right Ascension of
06:24.0, and is visible on the southern horizon of even the southern US States
as far north as Virginia or Kentucky or the African coast of the Mediterranean
Sea.
Canopus is, according to the Hipparcos satellite, 310 light years (96 parsecs)
from our solar system; Canopus would have been one of the most powerful stars
in our galaxy. As is, it is still about 20,000 times brighter than the Sun and
the most intrinsically bright star within 700 light years or so. It is much
more luminous, intrinsically, than the sole star that appears brighter than
it from Earth—Sirius is a mere 22 times more luminous than our sun, and
depends on being much closer to us to beat its rival in apparent magnitude.
In fact, for a large fraction of stars in the local stellar neighbourhood, Canopus
is the brightest star in the sky.
Due to its brightness and position away from the orbital plane of our solar
system (the latter being in contrast to Sirius' position), Canopus is often
used by American space probes for navigational purposes, using a special camera
known as a "Canopus Star Tracker" in combination with a "Sun
Tracker". Canopus will eventually become one of the largest white dwarfs in the galaxy
and may just be massive enough to fuse its carbon, turning into a rare neon-oxygen
white dwarf. These are rare because most white dwarfs have carbon-oxygen cores.
But a massive star like Canopus can begin to burn its carbon into neon and oxygen
as the star evolves into a small, dense and cooler object.