Adhara (HIP 33579)
Adhara is a blue giant star in the constellation Canis Major. At 405 light years away, it is the 23rd brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 1.50. Adhara is a multiple-star system. The iron abundance of Adhara is -0.75 (17.8% of the Sun). It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 27.4 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 20,900 and 24,400 light years from the center of the Galaxy. It came closest to the Sun 4.4 million years ago when it had brightened to magnitude -4.12 from a distance of 30 light years.
Sky position: RA 6h 58.6m, Dec -28° 58.2'
