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A. Brown, T. R. Ayres, R. A. Osten, G. M. Harper (CASA, U. of Colorado)
The F0 supergiant Canopus (\alpha Car) was observed by the Chandra X-ray Observatory on 2000 July 21 for 96 ksec using the High Energy Transmission Grating (HETG) and the ACIS-S detector. Canopus is the nearest supergiant star at a distance of only 96 pc and undergoing He-burning, post-M-supergiant evolution. It has a hot (107 K) corona with log Lx ~ 29.8 erg s-1, even though it has only a thin convection zone. The HETG data show a coronal emission line spectrum with the strongest lines being from Fe XVII, Ne X, and O VIII. We shall present a detailed analysis of the HETG spectra and the first accurate description of this star's coronal temperature distribution. These coronal properties will be compared with those implied by earlier ASCA, EUVE, ROSAT, and Einstein observations. This work is supported by NASA LTSA grant NAG5-3226, NASA GSRP fellowship NGT5-50241, and the Chandra Guest Observer program.