Page "Canes Venatici" Paragraph 8

* α CVn ( Asterion, Cor Caroli ) is the constellation's brightest star, named by Sir Charles Scarborough in memory of King Charles I, the deposed king of Britain.

Legend has it that α CVn was brighter than usual during the Restoration, as Charles II returned to England to take the throne.

Cor Caroli is a wide double star, with a primary of magnitude 2. 9 and a secondary of magnitude 5. 6 ; the primary is 110 light-years from Earth.

The primary also has an unusually strong variable magnetic field.