Astrophysics (Index)About

Sirius

(Alpha Canis Majoris)
(brightest star in the sky)

Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris) is the brightest star in the night sky. Though considerably more luminous than the Sun, its brightness is largely due to its nearness: it is the nearest star after Alpha Centauri that is visible without a telescope, and is the seventh nearest star/star system. It is a binary star, Sirius A being an Am star of absolute magnitude +1.43 and Sirius B, a DA2-type star, a white dwarf with absolute magnitude +11.18 and apparent magnitude of +8.44, requiring a telescope to view. They orbit in about 50 years. Characteristics (Sirius A, which is the star one sees):


(star,bright star,nearby star,binary star)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius
http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=Sirius
https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2000/0065/
https://chview.nova.org/solcom/stars/sirius2.htm
RedshiftParsecs
/Distance
Lightyears
/Lookback Years
  
~02.6pc8.6lySirius
Coordinates:Sirius
J064508.917-164258.02

Referenced by pages:
A-type star (A)
AB system
absolute magnitude (M)
Am star
apparent magnitude (m)
asterism
binary star
magnitude
solar luminosity (LSun)
spectral type
stellar designation
Vega

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