Canopus

I picked out this star because it was brought to my attention that it was a class F star, which is a fairly rare type on the main sequence of stars; this also means that it has a mass very close to the Sun's. Previous to the 1990's there wasn't much information on this star because it was invisible from much of the Northern Hemisphere and it is an unusual type, so there went many other stars with information of their own that scientists could compare it to. Now, not only is it a very interesting astronomical unit as a star in itself, but it also been used to adjust the position of spacecraft too. Now it is known that Canopus is the second brightest star in the sky and its name is a Latinized version of the Greek name Kanôbos,which refers to the pilot of the ship that Menelaus to Troy to retrieve Helen. 
Star: Canopus
Constellation: Carina
Location
Right Ascension: 6h23m57.119s
Declination: -52°41'44.5"
Stellar classification: F0 Ib
Chemical Makeup: metals; including magnesium, calcium, titanium, iron, strontiumSpectrum analysis: magnesium

http://astronomer.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Caopus-Map.jpg

http://en.es-static.us/upl/2011/02/canopus-300x215.jpg

Sources:

List of brightest stars. (2013). Retrieved September 28, 2015, from http://www.astronoo.com/en/brightest-stars.html

Stars. (2013). Retrieved September 28, 2015, from http://www.astronoo.com/en/stars.html

Sessions, L. (2015, February 6). Will you see Canopus? | EarthSky.org. Retrieved September 29, 2015, from http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/few-know-the-second-brightest-star-canopus

Howell, E. (2013, September 18). Canopus: Second-Brightest Star | Space.com. Retrieved September 29, 2015, from http://www.space.com/22858-canopus.html

Canopus. (1999, September 26). Retrieved September 29, 2015, from http://www.stellar-database.com/Scripts/search_star.exe?Name=Canopus