Canopus

I've been taking more interest in the night sky lately and using Stellarium it's been easy to identify the major stars. In this post I'll examine some of the facts and related information about the star Canopus. In my natal chart, the star is located at 14˚16' Cancer, forming a T-square with the Sun and Neptune.

The only problem with this placement is that Canopus is nowhere near the ecliptic and needs to be mapped on to it by drawing an arc from its position in the sky that meets the ecliptic at a right angle This is shown in the diagram below:

This is the problem that bedevils the two dimensional horoscope. The ecliptic is the backbone of a chart but only rarely are astronomical objects located exactly on it. In most cases, they are at some distance from it and need to be mapped on to it as has been done for Canopus in the diagram above.

How exactly is this mapping done? Well, an astronomical object's position can be measured in terms of celestial longitude and celestial latitude. The latter shows the angular distance of the object from the ecliptic. The former measures the object's angular distance from its orthogonal projection on the ecliptic to the First Point of Aries. It is the celestial longitude of an object that is considered when placing it in the two dimensional horoscope.

This celestial latitude however, is displayed in the Astrolog chart. For example, in my natal chart shown earlier, the longitude of Canopus can be read to the right of the longitude. It is -75°50', the negative sign indicating south latitude. Stellarium also shows this information but from a topocentric rather than geocentric perspective. The difference between these two positions would be very slight for fixed stars but would be most significant for the Moon. The magnitude of the difference for the Moon will be explored in a future post. Stellarium shows that the latitude of Canopus tonight, 14th February 2018 at 8:38pm, is -75°49'25.4" and its longitude is 105°13'31.1" (or 15°13'31.1" Cancer).

Here are some interesting astronomical facts about Canopus (from Wikipedia):

• it is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina (Alpha Carinae)
• it is the second-brightest star in the night-time sky, after Sirius
• it is 310 light years distant
• it has a radius 71 times that of the Sun
• it is a circumpolar star when seen from points with latitude south of 37°18' S
• its northern limit of visibility is latitude 37°18' N

Here is a shot of Canopus as it appears in Stellarium:

The constellation Carina is described as follows in Wikipedia:

Carina is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the keel of a ship, and it was formerly part of the larger constellation of Argo Navis (the ship Argo) until that constellation was divided into three pieces, the other two being Puppis (the poop deck), and Vela (the sails of the ship).

Carina was once a part of Argo Navis, the great ship of Jason and the Argonauts who searched for the Golden Fleece. The constellation of Argo was introduced in ancient Greece. However, due to the massive size of Argo Navis and the sheer number of stars that required separate designation, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided Argo into three sections in 1763, including Carina (the keel). In the 19th century, these three became established as separate constellations, and were formally included in the list of 88 modern IAU constellations in 1930. Lacaille kept a single set of Greek letters for the whole of Argo, and separate sets of Latin letter designations for each of the three sections. Therefore, Carina has the α, β and ε, Vela has γ and δ, Puppis has ζ, and so on.

Here's some information about the astrological significance of Canopus (source):

Astrologically, the keywords for Canopus, the keel, are: the navigator and the pathfinder and it is linked to the story of the Argo and the rescue of Helen of Troy but there is much more to Canopus. When linked to natal planets, Ptolemy associated the star with Saturn and Jupiter, Robson with 'piety, conservatism, and turning evil into good'. Ebertin connects Canopus to 'a love of travel' while Rigor adds the more negative potential of 'domestic problems'. 

(Ex: if the natal planet linked to Canopus is fussy Mars, the potential for domestic problems would be more likely to occur due to conflicts and quarrels.)

Some cultures, including certain Native American tribes, linked the precession of Canopus with timing the end of the world, and other ancient cultures considered it the weight at the end of the plumb line that defined earth's poles so that the plumb line's movement explained the effects of precession on Canopus, sometimes known as the Point of Stillness in the south. Plus, the star was once worshiped in desert cultures as the Star of Egypt (instead of Sirius!) and in China, the red star is associated with happiness, success, and a long life which makes it the Star of Old Age. 

For as Brady's Book of Fixed Stars relates, "In about 6,000 B.C.E. {Canopus} was the heliacal rising star for the autumn equinox and a series of temples were built in Egypt in alignment with these risings. Modern people see this star now being claimed by NASA, as they use this ancient location point as a navigational aid for spacecraft." Canopus--still the navigator! 

In natal horoscopes, Canopus (14 Cancer) is a powerful star which can provide leadership skills. New directions may be inspired by Canopus which acts in similar fashion as the royal stars which always include a 'caution' (ex: royal Regulus: success if revenge is avoided--otherwise all gains will be lost). With Canopus linked to a natal chart, success is possible but its caution lies within the flaw of needing too much control.