Adhara

Adhara (ădhâr'u) [key], bright star in the constellation Canis Major; Bayer designation ε Canis Majoris; 1992 position R.A. 6^h58.3^m, Dec. -31°54'. A bluish-white giant (spectral class B2 II) with apparent magnitude 1.5, it is one of the 25 brightest stars in the sky. Adhara is a visual binary star with combined luminosity about 8,000 times that of the sun; its distance is about 700 light-years. The name is from the Arabic meaning “virgin.”

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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