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.

Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph

9,797 K
surface · white star
9 ly
from Earth
-1.5
apparent magnitude

Its light has been travelling 9 years to reach us, so you see Sirius as it was 9 years ago.

Source · View on Wikidata

It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
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Other notable stars in 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
← all notable stars