By Katelin Mei
The night sky has always fascinated me. I have always wondered what is out there. The possibilities are endless. However, it will take a long time to explore outer space because even if we were traveling at the speed of light, it would take many years to travel to the stars closest to us. We do know about these stars because we are able to see and track them. Here are the brightest stars we can see in our night sky.
- Sirius – Also known as the “Dog Star,” this is one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It is visible from late August until mid-to-late March and lies 8.6 light years away from us.
- Canopus – This was either named for an ancient city in Northern Egypt, or the helmsman for Menelaous, a mythical king of Sparta. It is visible from the Southern Hemisphere but is visible to southern regions of the Northern Hemisphere at certain times of the year. It lies 74 light years away from us.
- Rigil Kentaurus – Its name literally means “foot of the centaur,” and it is one of the most famous stars in our sky. It is part of the constellation Centaurus and is classified as the same type of star as our sun. It is actually part of a 3-star system, with each star looping around the others in dance. Rigil Kentaurus is 4.3 light-years away from us.
- Arcturus – This is the brightest star in the constellation Boötes. Its name means “Guardian of the Bear.” Stargazers learn of it as they star-hop from the Big Dipper. One easy way to remember it is to use the curve of the Big Dipper to “arc to Arcturus.” It lies around 34 light years away from us.
- Vega – Its name means “swooping eagle,” and it is the 5th brightest star in our sky. It is part of the constellation Lyra. It is also part of a star pattern known as the summer triangle and can be seen in the Northern Hemisphere from early summer to late autumn. There is a disk of material around it, which could possibly hold planets. Scientists classify this star to be a Type A star, meaning it is younger and hotter than our sun. It is 25 light years away from us.
- Capella – This name means “little she-goat” in Latin and is the brightest star in the constellation Auriga, and is one of the 5 stars in a star pattern known as “Winter Hexagon. Capella is a yellow giant, like our own Sun, but much larger. It lies around 41 light years away from the sun.
- Rigel – Its name comes from the Arabic word for “foot,” and is literally one of the feet of the constellation Orion. Rigel is also part of the “Winter Hexagon” and can be seen from October through March. It has a slightly dimmer companion that can easily be seen with a telescope. Astronomers have discovered that it is part of a 4-star system. It lies around 860 light years away from us but is so bright that it is the 7th brightest star in our sky.
- Procyon – The name “Procyon” is based on the Greek work “prokyon” meaning “before the dog.” And indeed, this star rises before Sirius. It is part of the Canis Major Constellation, and is also part of the Winter Hexagon. It is visible from the Northern Hemisphere and lies 11.4 light years away from us.
- Achernar – Its name meaning, “End of River,” this star is part of the constellation Eridanus, the river. It is part of the Southern Hemisphere but can be seen from certain parts of the Northern Hemisphere, such as South Asia, or the Southern parts of the United States. It lies 139 light years away from us.
- Betelgeuse – The name means “arm of the mighty one.” It is a red supergiant and makes up the upper-left shoulder of Orion. It is much bigger and brighter than our sun. If Betelgeuse were placed at the center of our solar system, its atmosphere would expand past the orbit of Jupiter. It has grown as it has aged. Eventually it will explode into a supernova; when that happens it will temporarily be the brightest object in our night sky. It lies 1,500 light years away from us, but because it is 13,000 times brighter than our sun, it is the 10th brightest star in the night sky.
Oh, and here is the source:
Far away editor: Doreen Yuan
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