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
Redshift | Parsecs /Distance | Lightyears /Lookback Years | | |
~0 | 2.6pc | 8.6ly | | Sirius |
|
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
Index