About Procyon
Procyon is an epic star. It lies about 11.5 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation CMi, shines at apparent magnitude 0.4 and has spectral type F5IV-V.
Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Epic star 49 EP
Procyon
RA 114.8255° · Dec 5.2250° · star
Score breakdown
· 5 badgesEpic 68 pts → Anomaly
- Brilliant (mag < 1) +18
- Nearby (<25 ly) +12
- Naked-eye visible +8
- Has a proper name +8
- Star +3
Total score 49
19 more points to reach Anomaly.
Badges
- Star · +3
- Nearby (<25 ly) · +12
- Naked-eye visible · +8
- Brilliant (mag < 1) · +18
- Has a proper name · +8
Trivia
Could we get there?
- Verdict. A multi-generation starship could one day attempt the crossing.
Getting there
- Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 201.4 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
- Fastest probe ever. ≈ 17.9 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.
- At 10% light speed. ≈ 115 years in a starship at a tenth of light speed.
- Distance. 11.5 light-years from Earth.
Look-back time
- Look-back time. The light you'd see left around the year 2015.
Saying hello
- Say hello. A radio message and its reply would take 22.9 years round-trip.
How we found it
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- absmag
- 2.671
- bv
- 0.432
- constellation
- CMi
- dist ly
- 11.4618
- mag
- 0.4
- name
- Procyon
- named
- yes
- spect
- F5IV-V
How to see it
Look for Procyon in the constellation CMi. At apparent magnitude 0.4, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, Procyon is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why Procyon is an epic star
Procyon scores 49 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 19 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Nearby (<25 ly), Naked-eye visible, Brilliant (mag < 1) and Has a proper name — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.