Sirius
Blue-white main-sequence star · Alpha Canis Majoris
Brightest star in the night sky
The most brilliant star in Earth's night sky, Sirius is a hot, nearby A-type star with a faint white-dwarf companion, Sirius B, that orbits it every 50 years.
Also on: The nearest stars to Earth · The brightest stars in the night sky · Named stars, A to Z · The hottest stars · Stars in Canis Major
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
9,797 K
surface · white star
9 ly
from Earth
-1.5
apparent magnitude
Visible to the naked eyeno equipment needed · apparent magnitude -1.5
Its light has been travelling 9 years to reach us, so you see Sirius as it was 9 years ago.
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in the Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableAlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple star
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→