Procyon

This article is about the star. Procyon is also the mammalian genus to which Raccoons belong.

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α Canis Minoris, 10 Canis Minoris, GCTP 1805.00, HR 2943, BD+05°1739, LHS 233, GJ 280, HIP 61421, GC 10277, ADS 6251, CCDM 07393+0514

|} Procyon (α CMi / α Canis Minoris / Alpha Canis Minoris) is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor and the eighth brightest star in the nighttime sky.

Its name comes from the Greek προκύον (prokúon), 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.) These two dog stars are referred to in the most ancient literature and were venerated by the Babylonians and the Egyptians.

Procyon is a vertex of the Winter Triangle.

Procyon is one of the closest stars to Earth's solar system, being only 3.5 pc or 11.41 light years away. Like Sirius, it is a binary star —the main star (Procyon A) having a faint white dwarf companion (Procyon B). Its closest neighbour is Luyten's star, 0.34 pc or 1.11 ly away.

Contents

1 Procyon A
2 Procyon B
3 Astrology
4 Procyon in fiction
5 See also
6 External links

Procyon A

Light variability of Sol vs. that of Procyon

Procyon A is a yellowish-white star somewhat larger and 7.5 times brighter than the Sun, of spectral type F. In fact, because it is bright even for its spectral class, it is thought to be a subgiant, meaning it has just finished fusing its hydrogen into helium and begun to expand. So far, it is not thought that the star has begun to "redden" but as it continues to expand, the star will swell to about 80 - 150 times its current diameter and become a red or orange color. This will probably happen within 10 - 100 million years. It is expected that the Sun will also go through this process when it begins to die.

In late June of 2004, Canada's orbital MOST satellite telescope completed a 32-day survey of Procyon A. The continuous optical monitoring was intended to confirm oscillations in its brightness observed from Earth. During the entire two month period however, no fluctuation in intensity whatsoever was observed. These findings have caused astrophysicists to question the accepted tenets of helioseismology, and theories of star formation.

Procyon B

Procyon B is a faint white dwarf star, with an average separation from Procyon A of about 16 times the Earth's distance from the Sun or roughly the distance between Uranus and the Sun.

Astrology

Astrologically, Procyon portends wealth, fame, and good fortune. Medieval astrologers considered it one of fifteen Behenian stars, associated with agate and water crowfoot. According to Cornelius Agrippa, its kabbalistic symbol is

Procyon in fiction

In the book Star Trek: Star Charts, Procyon is said to be the primary star system for Andoria, though this is a conjecture unsupported by onscreen evidence in any Star Trek series or film. According to , the star was the scene of a formidable Federation victory during a war against an alien species known as the Sphere Builders. The USS Enterprise-J took part in this battle. In 2153, Captain Jonathan Archer was brought 400 years forward in time to witness part of the battle.
In the Viagens Interplanetarias stories of L. Sprague de Camp its system contains the inhabited planets of Osiris, Isis, and Thoth.
The human colony world of We Made It (which is mentioned in Larry Niven's stories and books of the Known Space) orbits Procyon. Pierson's Puppeteers are said to have evolved in a solar system with a star similar to Procyon (which later became a red giant).
In the Terran Trade Authority, Procyon is orbited by three planets, the middle of which, Sisuphos, is a barely-habitable mining world.
In Uller Uprising by H. Beam Piper, Procyon is the name of a contragravity warship equipped with rockets and autocannon of 40mm and 90mm calibers. It is instrumental in crushing the 'Geek Rebellion' of native, anti-human Ullerans.
In Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters, Procyon is the primary star for the homeworld of the Chmmr, a new race made from the fusion of the Chenjesu and the Mmrmmhrrm.

External links

[Sol Station — Procyon]