Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. It's a binary system known as the "Dog Star" in the constellation Canis Major. It appears to twinkle in a rainbow of colors due to Earth's atmosphere and is relatively close at only 8.6 light-years away. The system consists of a large, hot blue-white star, Sirius A, and a faint companion white dwarf, Sirius B. Sirius was important to ancient Egyptians who relied on its appearance to predict the Nile's annual flood.
Name: Sirius
Designation: Alpha Canis Major
Constellation: Canis Major
Hemisphere: South
Spectral Class: A-type blue-white main sequence
Temperature: 9,500K
Distance: 8.6 LY
Apparent Magnitude: -1.47
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. It's a binary system known as the "Dog Star" in the constellation Canis Major. It appears to twinkle in a rainbow of colors due to Earth's atmosphere and is relatively close at only 8.6 light-years away. The system consists of a large, hot blue-white star, Sirius A, and a faint companion white dwarf, Sirius B. Sirius was important to ancient Egyptians who relied on its appearance to predict the Nile's annual flood.
Name: Sirius
Designation: Alpha Canis Major
Constellation: Canis Major
Hemisphere: South
Spectral Class: A-type blue-white main sequence
Temperature: 9,500K
Distance: 8.6 LY
Apparent Magnitude: -1.47
Image 1 of 15
Image 2 of 15
Image 3 of 15
Image 4 of 15
Image 5 of 15
Image 6 of 15
Image 7 of 15
Image 8 of 15
Image 9 of 15
Image 10 of 15
Image 11 of 15
Image 12 of 15
Image 13 of 15
Image 14 of 15
Image 15 of 15