Adhara (ε CMa / ε Canis Majoris / Epsilon Canis Majoris), is the second brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. It has the Bayer designation "epsilon" despite being the second brightest and not the fifth brightest star in its constellation. It is sometimes also called Adara. The name is from the Arabic word عذارى ‘ađāra’, "virgins".
Adhara is a binary star, 470 light years distant from Earth. The main star possesses an apparent magnitude of +1.5 and belongs to the spectral classification B2. The +7.5 magnitude companion star (the absolute magnitude amounts to −5.0) is at 7.5" away with a position angle of 161° of the main star. Despite the relatively large angular distance the components can only be resolved in large telescopes, since the main star is approximately 250 times brighter than its companion.
