For those of you who don’t pilot starships, all stars generate gravitic links through hyperspace with other nearby stars. We normally ride those rivers when traveling because they’re faster than going in open hyperspace. Beacon Stars generate more powerful links with stars further away that are faster to fly on than normal stars. Canopus is a Beacon Star. A powerful one. I’m talking Alpha Centauri-class here. That’s why we named a sector after it.