SIRIUS: THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE NIGHT SKY

In the daytime, the Sun is the brightest star as viewed from Earth.

But what about the night sky?

The Dog Star and the brightest star visible in the Earth's night sky is Sirius ⭐

Why the name Dog star you ask?

Well because this star is part of the Canis Major constellation, Latin for "the greater dog." It is classified as “A” category by the astronomers and can be seen with the naked eye. The Sirius A or more commonly referred as the Sirius has surface hotter than the sun! (and we thought our summers were tough!)

The surface temperature of our Sun is 5,500 degree Celsius whereas the surface temperature of Sirius is 9,666 degree Celsius. This star is 1.71 times the radius of the Sun and is also a binary star. The name of its companion is Sirius B which is the first white dwarf ever discovered which is very faint and is a dead star. This star also goes by the name of “The Pup”.

How to measure the brightness of a Star?

Using the magnitude scale, we measure the brightness of the stars. There are 2 scales to this; apparent magnitude and absolute magnitude which our scientists use to determine the brightness of a star. An ancient Greek astronomer called Hipparchus invented the magnitude scale.

The smaller the number, the brighter the object, the higher the number, the dimmer it is.

So, let's see the magnitude of our 5 brightest stars!

Name	Constellation	Magnitude
The Sun	-	-26.72
Sirius	Canis Major	-1.46
Canopus	Carina	-0.72
Alpha Centauri	Centaurus	-0.27
Arcturus	Boötes	-0.04

Since the apparent magnitude of the Sun is the lowest, it is the brightest star, followed by Sirius with -1.46 magnitude.

How far is Sirius from our Earth?

At a distance of 8.6 light-years, Sirius is one of the closest stars to us after the Sun. By the way, one light-year is almost 6 trillion miles!

How to spot the brightest star, Sirius in the sky?

Using the belt of Orion as a pointer to locate Sirius. The three stars of the belt point downwards into Sirius to the left. To be more exact, Sirius' location is:

Right ascension: 6 hours 45 minutes 8.9 seconds 

Declination: -16 degrees 42 minutes 58 seconds

Let us know in the comments section below if you would like to read more about astronomy trivia! 💙