The Fixed Stars

Adhara

Epsilon Canis Majoris, Adara

The virgins. It stands at about 20° Cancer (tropical).

The second light of the Dog, chief of a little group the Arabs called the virgins.

Adhara is the second brightest star of Canis Major after Sirius and takes its name from al-adhara, the virgins, the name of a small cluster of stars in the Dog's hindquarter of which it was the leader. It is a hot blue-white star. Beyond the meaning of its name and its rank in the figure, little planetary lore is handed down for it.

Named for the small asterism of the virgins; its lore is chiefly its name and brightness.