Space and Astronomy Atlas

How The Universe Works
Celestial Objects

Procyon

Multiple Star Systems

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Procyon is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor and usually the eighth-brightest star in the night sky, carrying the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Minoris. Hipparcos satellite measurements place it just 11.46 light-years away, making it one of Earth's nearest stellar neighbors; it is a binary system consisting of a white main-sequence star, Procyon A, orbited by a faint white dwarf companion, Procyon B, the pair completing an orbit of each other roughly every 40.84 years.

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