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Sirius. Ancient Greek: Σείριος 'the scorcher'; in Egyptian Sopdet, rendered in Greek as Σῶθις Sōthis. As the brightest star in the sky, Sirius has proper names in numerous cultures, including Polynesian (Māori: Takurua; Hawaiian: Ka'ulua ('Queen of Heaven'), among others). Also known as the "Dog Star".
The Sun is the brightest star as viewed from Earth, at −26.78 mag. The second brightest is Sirius at −1.46 mag. For comparison, the brightest non-stellar objects in the Solar System have maximum brightnesses of: the Moon −12.7 mag [1] Venus −4.92 mag. Jupiter −2.94 mag. Mars −2.94 mag.
All stars but one can be associated with an IAU (International Astronomical Union) constellation. IAU constellations are areas of the sky. Although there are only 88 IAU constellations, the sky is actually divided into 89 irregularly shaped boxes as the constellation Serpens is split into two separate sections, Serpens Caput (the snake's head) to the west and Serpens Cauda (the snake's tail ...
The following is a list of particularly notable actual or hypothetical stars that have their own articles in Wikipedia, but are not included in the lists above. BPM 37093 — a diamond star Cygnus X-1 — X-ray source
Stars in the night sky. The first star catalogue in Greek astronomy was created by Aristillus in approximately 300 BC, with the help of Timocharis. [10] The star catalog of Hipparchus (2nd century BC) included 1,020 stars, and was used to assemble Ptolemy's star catalogue. [11] Hipparchus is known for the discovery of the first recorded nova ...
Fifth brightest star in the night sky. [74] Altair (α Aquilae) 2.01 × 1.57 [106] Twelfth brightest star in the night sky. Sirius (α Canis Majoris A) 1.711 [107] The brightest star in the night sky. Rigil Kentaurus (α Centauri A) 1.2175 [108] Third brightest star in the night sky. Sun: 1: The largest object in the Solar System.
The Bright Star Catalogue, which is a star catalogue listing all stars of apparent magnitude 6.5 or brighter, or roughly every star visible to the naked eye from Earth, contains 9,096 stars. [1] The most voluminous modern catalogues list on the order of a billion stars, out of an estimated total of 200 to 400 billion in the Milky Way .
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. [1] The first constellations likely go back to prehistory. People used them to relate stories of their beliefs, experiences, creation, and ...