Sirius

Distance rank: by HYG distance it belongs to the Nº 7 nearest star system to the Sun (stars within 20 ly).

Naked eye: magnitude −1.44, bright enough to see without a telescope under dark skies (limit ≈ +6).

Why it matters

Light-time: the light you see left it about 8.6 years ago.

When to look: Dec–Apr evenings; the brightest star in the night sky, visible from all of India.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: List of brightest stars
2. HYG Database v4.1 (D. Nash, astronexus), CC BY-SA 4.0: stars within 20 ly, derived list
3. HYG Database v4.1 (Nash), CC BY-SA 4.0
4. IAU, The Constellations (88 official names and abbreviations)

13point8 is an independent educational project. Every fact links to its source; send corrections to [email protected]. Privacy