Description
Call it “The Revenge of the Scrawny.”
The star system known as Procyon was born with two stars. One was bigger and heavier than the other, so it shined much more brightly. Because of that showiness, though, it burned out much more quickly. Today, all that’s left is the star’s tiny, dead core — while the scrawny companion shines on.
Procyon is in good view tonight, rising to the right of the full Moon.
What we see of Procyon is the scrawny survivor, Procyon A. In this case, though, “scrawny” is relative. The star is roughly twice as big as the Sun, and about 40 percent heavier. That mass puts it near the top 10 percent of all the stars in the galaxy.
When the system was born, though, the other star, Procyon B, was much more impressive. Because of its greater mass, it burned through the nuclear fuel in its core much more quickly. That made the star much brighter than Procyon A.
But it used up its fuel in a hurry. It puffed up, then cast its outer layers into space. All that remains is it
