Aludra is the blue-white star at the tip of the Great Dog’s tail, a distant, highly luminous supergiant whose Arabic name means the maiden.
At a glance
| type | blue-white supergiant (class B) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 1,990 light-years (610 pc) |
| its light left it | 1,990 years ago |
| luminosity | 109,000 × the Sun |
| radius | 46.3 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 15,400 K |
| constellation | Canis Major (Great Dog) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Aludra
Aludra is a hot, massive blue-white star, swollen well beyond the Sun’s size and enormously brighter. It is one of the more luminous stars that the eye can see, faint in our sky only because it lies so far away.
In Canis Major it marks the tail, completing the triangle of the hindquarters with Adhara and Wezen. The name comes from Arabic for the maiden, related to the name of Adhara.
What you see in the piece
Aludra lies far behind Sirius and most of the Dog; in the piece the tail detaches from the body and stays in the distance as you fly.
Questions
Where is Aludra?
Aludra marks the tail of Canis Major, the Great Dog, south-east of Sirius.