PROCYON is the Alpha star of Canis Minor. The eighth brightest star
we see in the sky, Procyon is just behind Rigel in Orion. The star
is bright in part, however, because it is close to us, a mere 11 1/4
light years away, compared with Rigel's 1600 light years. By comparison,
Procyon is a feeble radiator even if it is still 7 times
intrinsically more luminous than the Sun.
The star is an example of a "subgiant," one that is just beginning its
death process, its internal core hydrogen about all burned away to
helium. Procyon's chief claim to fame is a tiny companion,
Procyon B, a "white dwarf" discovered in 1895, though its existence
was already known from the wobbles it exerts on the brighter star,
Procyon A, which were discovered in 1844.Recent Hubble Space
Telescope observations show that Procyon B has a temperature of
8700 degrees above absolute zero, a bit warmer than Procyon A's
and is only about the size of Earth. Procyon B is a white dwarf,
which are dead stars that have gone through the entire cycle of stellar
evolution and now consist of highly compressed gas that is just cooling
off.
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