Mirzam (HIP 30324)
Mirzam is a blue giant star in the constellation Canis Major. At 492 light years away, it is the 48th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 1.98. Mirzam is the primary component of a multiple-star system and an intrinsic variable star that varies between magntitudes 1.88 and 1.91 over a period of 6 hours. The iron abundance of Mirzam is -0.41 (38.9% of the Sun). It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 33.8 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 21,400 and 24,600 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 -3.78 from a distance of 35 light years.
Sky position: RA 6h 22.7m, Dec -17° 57.6'
