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The brightest star of Canis Minor is like Sirius a double system of a main sequence star and a white dwarf.
The yellow Procyon A is surprisingly bright for its color and could be a subgiant, which becomes a red giant.
Procyon B is even more dense as Sirius B. Once it was bigger as Procyon A.
Constellation: Canis Minor
Age: 1.7 billion years
Distance: 11.41 light-years
Radial velocity: -4 km/sec
Orbit period of Procyon A and B: 40.65 years
Procyon
Procyon is the eighth brightest star in the night sky, - but is also part of the scientific name of the raccoon (Procyon lotor). It also serves as my online pen-name, which I chose many years ago based on this interesting coincidence that one of my favorite creatures, and an example of one of the most fascinating objects in the sky, happen to share the same name. And although the name can be difficult to pronounce (PRO-see-on), I've become quite attached to it, treating it as a sort of symbolic alternate identity - a raccoon fascinated by the shining beacons of the night sky.
Procyon the Star:
In the literal translation from Greek, Procyon means "before the dog", which would seem to indicate that it rises shortly before the Dog Star, Sirius, at most latitutes. It is one of the closest bright stars to Earth at a distance of about 11 light years, and is about the only bright example of an F star (5), though the North Star Polaris and Canopus are also members of this spectral class. Closer inspection of the system reveals Procyon to actually be a double star, consisting of one ordinary star (Procyon A) and a tiny, faint white dwarf companion (Procyon B). Procyon A is a main-sequence star just beginning its evolution off the main sequence, and is often designated as belonging to evolutionary class IV-V to indicate its borderline status between dwarf and subgiant stages. Procyon B is the degenerate remnant of what was once a much larger, brighter, and hotter star that eventually shed its hydrogen envelope to leave behind the ultradense carbon-helium core. The two stars continue to orbit each other with a period of about 40 years.
Data on Procyon A:
Scientific Designation Alpha Canis Minoris
ICRS 2000.0 coordinates 07 39 18.1183, +05 13 29.975
FK5 2000.0/2000.0 coordinates 07 39 18.12, +05 13 30.0
FK4 1950.0/1950.0 coordinates 07 36 41.14, +05 21 17.4
Galactic coordinates 213.70, +13.02
Proper motion -716.58, -1034.60 mas/yr
Apparent magnitude 0.74 (B), 0.34 (V)
Absolute magnitude 2.8 (V)
Spectral type F5IV-V
Radial velocity -3.2 km/s
Parallax 285.93 mas
Distance 3.4973 pc (11 ly)
Orbital Period 40 yr
Surface Temperature 6530 K
Luminosity 7.3 Lsun
Mass 1.5 Msun
Age 1.7 Gyr