Kappa Canis Majoris is a solitary, blue-white hued star in the constellation Canis Major. Its name is a Bayer designation that is Latinized from κ Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Kappa CMa or κ CMa. This star is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of +3.87. Based upon an annual parallax shift of as seen from Earth, this star is located about 660 light years from the Sun. It is receding from the Sun with a line of sight velocity of +14 km/s.
This is a massive B-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of B1.5 Ve, although Hiltner et al. (1969) classified it as B1.5 IVe suggesting it is a subgiant star. The 'e' suffix indicates it is a rapidly rotating Be star with a circumstellar decretion disk of heated gas. The radius of the emitting disk is about , or about 3.7 times the radius of the star. It is classified as a Gamma Cassiopeiae type variable star and its brightness varies from magnitude +3.4 to +3.97. The star became 50% brighter between 1963 and 1978, increasing from magnitude 3.96 or so to 3.52.
This star is about 13.3 million years old and spinning with a projected rotational velocity of 290 km/s. It has 6 times the radius of the Sun and 12 times the Sun's mass. The star is emitting 18,876 times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 24,600 K.
Naming In Chinese, (), meaning Bow and Arrow, refers to an asterism consisting of κ Canis Majoris, δ Canis Majoris, η Canis Majoris, HD 63032, HD 65456, ο Puppis, k Puppis, ε Canis Majoris and π Puppis. Consequently, κ Canis Majoris itself is known as (, .)
References AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 17 日
弧矢 (Hú Shǐ) is westernized into Koo She. R.H. Allen had opinion that Koo She refers to the asterism including δ Velorum and ω Velorum. AEEA opinion is, δ Velorum is member of (), meaning Celestial Earth God's Temple asterism and ω Velorum is not member of any asterisms. 天社 (Tiān Shè) is westernized into Tseen She and R.H.Allen used the term Tseen She for Chinese name of η Carinae. See Richard Hinckley Allen: Star Names — Their Lore and Meaning: Argo Navis and AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 17 日 .