Sirius
The brightest star in the night sky.
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, in Canis Major, with an apparent magnitude of -1.46. It is a binary: Sirius A, a main-sequence star of type A0 or A1, and the faint white dwarf Sirius B, which orbit each other every 50 years.
At 2.64 parsecs (about 8.6 light-years) it is one of Earth's nearest neighbours. It is slowly approaching and will brighten slightly over the next 60,000 years.
Quick Facts
- Type
- Binary star
- Constellation
- Canis Major
- Apparent magnitude
- -1.46
- Distance
- 2.64 pc (~8.6 light-years)
More in Stellar Entities & Systems
Elsewhere in Cosmos Codex
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced
Comments
Loading…