Brightest star viewed from Earth
- Who
- Sirius
- Where
- The constellation Canis Major.,
- When
- 01 January 0001
Sirius A (alpha Canis Majoris), 8.64 light years distant, is the brightest star in the night sky with an apparent magnitude of -1.46 at present, but this will rise to a maximum of -1.67 by AD 61,000. It has a diameter of 2.33 million km (1.45 million miles), a mass 2.14 times that of the Sun, and is visually 24 times brighter.
Although Sirius is 24 times more luminous that the Sun, its distance of 8.64 light years means it is roughly half a million times further away from us.
The unit of measurement 'light years' is the distance light travels in one year. This means that if the brightness of Sirius changed, it would be 8.64 years before we noticed it.
The unit of measurement 'light years' is the distance light travels in one year. This means that if the brightness of Sirius changed, it would be 8.64 years before we noticed it.