The Cor Caroli  system is a binary star designated Alpha Canum Venaticorum or α Canum Venaticorum.
The International Astronomical Union uses the name "Cor Caroli" specifically for the brighter star of the binary.
Alpha Canum Venaticorum is the brightest point of light in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici.
Nomenclature
α Canum Venaticorum, Latinised to Alpha Canum Venaticorum, is the system's Bayer designation.
The brighter of the two stars is designated α2 Canum Venaticorum, the fainter α1 Canum Venaticorum.Cor Caroli , Stars, Jim Kaler.
Accessed on line September 15, 2008.
In the western world Alpha Canum Venaticorum had no name until the 17th century, when it was named Cor Caroli, which means "Charles's Heart".
There has been some uncertainty whether it was named in honour of King Charles I of England, who was executed in 1649 during the English Civil War, or of his son, Charles II, who restored the English monarchy to the throne in 1660.
The name was coined in 1660 by Sir Charles Scarborough, physician to Charles II, who claimed the star seemed to shine exceptionally brightly on the night of Charles II's return to England.
In Star Names, R.H. Allen claimed that Scarborough suggested the name to Edmond Halley and intended it to refer to Charles II.R.H. Allen, Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning.
However, Robert Burnham Jr. notes that "the attribution of the name to Halley appears in a report published by J. E. Bode at Berlin in 1801, but seems to have no other verification".Robert Burnham, Jr.
Burnham's Celestial Handbook, Volume 1, p. 359.
In Star Tales, Ian Ridpath points out that the name's first appearance on a star map was in the 1673 chart of Francis Lamb, who labelled it Cor Caroli Regis Martyris ('the heart of Charles the martyred king'), clearly indicating that it was seen as referring to Charles I.Ian Ridpath: "Star Tales", Canes Venatici.
See also Deborah J. Warner, The Sky Explored: Celestial Cartography 1500-1800.
In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars.
The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Cor Caroli for the star α2 Canum Venaticorum.
In Chinese,  (), meaning Imperial Guards, refers to an asterism consisting of α Canum Venaticorum, 10 Canum Venaticorum, Beta Canum Venaticorum, 6 Canum Venaticorum, 2 Canum Venaticorum and 67 Ursae Majoris. 中國星座神話
, written by 陳久金.
Published by 台灣書房出版有限公司, 2005, .
Consequently, the Chinese name for Alpha Canum Venaticorum itself is  (, ). 香港太空館
- 研究資源 - 亮星中英對照表 , Hong Kong Space Museum.
Accessed on line November 23, 2010.
From this Chinese name, the name Chang Chen was derived.Richard Hinckley Allen: Star Names — Their Lore and Meaning: Canes Venatici Stellar properties
thumb|left|Cor Caroli seen from northern England on March 1, 2011 Alpha Canum Venaticorum is a binary star with a combined apparent magnitude of 2.81.
The two stars are 19.6 arcseconds apart in the sky and are easily resolved in small telescopes.
The system lies approximately 110 light-years from the Sun.
It marks the northern vertex of the asterism known as the Great Diamond or the Diamond of Virgo.
α<sup>2</sup> Canum Venaticorum
α2 Canum Venaticorum has a spectral type of A0, and has an apparent visual magnitude which varies between 2.84 and 2.98, with a period of 5.47 days.
It is a chemically peculiar star with a strong magnetic field, about 5,000 times as strong as the Earth's, and is also classified as an Ap/Bp star."
Cor Caroli", p. 49, The hundred greatest stars, James B. Kaler, Springer, 2002, .
Its atmosphere has overabundances of some elements, such as silicon, mercury and europium.
This is thought to be due to some elements sinking down into the star under the force of gravity while others are elevated by radiation pressure.
This star is the prototype of a class of variable stars, the so-called α2 Canum Venaticorum variables.
The strong magnetic field of these stars is believed to produce starspots of enormous extent.
Due to these starspots the brightness of α2 Canum Venaticorum stars varies considerably during their rotation.
α<sup>1</sup> Canum Venaticorum
α1 Canum Venaticorum is an F-type main-sequence star.
It is considerably fainter than its companion and has an apparent visual magnitude of approximately 5.60.
Namesakes
Cor Caroli was a U.S. Navy Crater-class cargo ship named after the star.
Newly named Cody Monica References
