Canopus

white bright giant · second-brightest star in the night sky

310 light-years from Earth

The second-brightest star in the night sky, a white giant 73 times the Sun's width and about 16,600 times as luminous. Since Mariner 4 in 1964, spacecraft have steered by it to keep themselves pointed the right way.

• 310 light-years · 73 times the Sun's radius
• about 16,600 times as luminous as the Sun, 7,660 K

kind

star

size

0.68 AU across