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Most stars on this list appear bright from Earth because they are nearby, not because they are intrinsically luminous. For a list which compensates for the distances, converting the apparent magnitude to the absolute magnitude, see the list of most luminous stars. Some major asterisms, which feature many of the brightest stars in the night sky
Binary star system: Brightest night star −0.74 Canopus: Star −0.29 [7] Alpha Centauri AB Binary star system Part of a triple star system with Proxima Centauri: −0.05 Arcturus: Star Brightest Population II star 0.03 −0.02 Vega: Star 0.08 0.03 [8] Capella: Quadruple star system: Brightest quadruple star system 0.13 0.05 [9] Rigel ...
Sirius is currently the brightest star in Earth's night sky, but it has not always been so. Canopus has persistently been the brightest star over the ages; other stars appear brighter only during relatively temporary periods, during which they are passing the Solar System at a much closer distance than Canopus .
Thanks to gravitational lensing, stars that are strongly magnified can be seen at much larger distances. The first star in the list, Godzilla [1] — an LBV in the distant Sunburst galaxy — is probably the brightest star ever observed, although it is believed to be undergoing a temporary episode of increased luminosity that has lasted at ...
This number is likely much higher, due to the sheer number of stars needed to be surveyed; a star approaching the Solar System 10 million years ago, moving at a typical Sun-relative 20–200 kilometers per second, would be 600–6,000 light-years from the Sun at present day, with millions of stars closer to the Sun.
With an apparent magnitude of −1.46, Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, almost twice as bright as the second-brightest star, Canopus. [72] From Earth , Sirius always appears dimmer than Jupiter and Venus , and at certain times also dimmer than Mercury and Mars . [ 73 ]
This is a list of the nearest supergiant stars to Earth, located at a distance of up to 1,100 light-years (340 parsecs) from Earth. Some of the brightest stars in the night sky , such as Rigel and Antares , are in the list.
On Earth, a pole star would lie directly overhead when viewed from the North or the South Pole. Currently, Earth's pole stars are Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris), a bright magnitude 2 star aligned approximately with its northern axis that serves as a pre-eminent star in celestial navigation, and a much dimmer magnitude 5.5 star on its southern ...