The brightest stars in the sky. Where and how you can find them?

Stars have always fascinated people and provoked the creation of various theories related to their formation, as well as observations and studies of the celestial vault. They are formed by the collapse of gravity clouds of matter consisting mainly of hydrogen. They are clusters of matter that are gravitationally bound. The stars – because we are talking about them – are spherical celestial bodies. When they are formed, they are mainly made up of hydrogen and helium, and over time they contain metals.

For at least part of their existence, stars emit electromagnetic radiation. It is through the analysis of the radiation coming from the stars that information about the stars is obtained, and their main parameters are surface temperature and absolute brightness. Part of the electromagnetic radiation that the retina of the eye responds to in the process of vision is visible light.

Only the Sun and some new stars are visible to us during the day. The remaining stars can only be observed from the Earth’s surface in the night sky, as they are then not overshadowed by sunlight scattered in the atmosphere. Celestial bodies best visible in the night sky are arranged in constellations and have their names, which are standardized over time thanks to astronomical catalogs. You can even buy someone a star as a gift nowadays.

List of the brightest stars in the sky

Some of them appear very bright because they are relatively close to Earth. Others are huge, very hot, and give off a lot of radiation. All the stars you can see even with the naked eye in the night sky belong to the Milky Way. Of the hundreds of billions of stars, it contains, we are only able to see a fraction of them from Earth. So, what are the brightest stars we can observe?

1. Sirius is the brightest star also known as the Dog Star. It is one of the stars closest to us. Sirius is visible from Earth from late August to late March. When viewed with the naked eye, Sirius looks like a single star. But it is actually a binary star – it consists of a bright white star known as Sirius A and an accompanying white dwarf known as Sirius B.
2. Canopus is the second brightest star in the night sky after Sirius. Located in the constellation Kila is about 309 light years from the Sun. Due to its high brightness and convenient location on the celestial sphere, Canopus is often used as a landmark for spacecraft navigators. Canopus is visible to the naked eye from the entire southern hemisphere, while from the northern hemisphere only up to latitude 37’N, so the star is invisible. Where does its name come from?

In Greek mythology, there was such a navigator of the flotilla of Menelaus – king of Sparta – which counter-winds brought down the shores of Egypt during the return from the Trojan War. Canopus died there. On the day of his death, a very bright star shone low above the horizon, which was given his name, and Menelaus built the city of Kanopos at the place of his death. Another etymology of the name Canopus comes from the Egyptian Kahi Nub and probably refers to the star’s low position on the southern horizon.

1. Alpha Centauri, or multiple star, is located in the constellation Centaurus. The Alpha Centauri system contains the closest stars to Earth (excluding the Sun) and the closest extrasolar planet. It is possible that other planets also lie in this system.
2. Arcturus belongs to the constellation of Wolarz, near Ursa Major, which influenced its name. Arcturus is an orange giant. It attracted the attention of people in antiquity, and its slightly reddish color drew Ptolemy’s attention. People believed in the effects of the stars. Mediterranean sailors feared the influence of the Arcturus. It was also believed in the negative influence of Arcturus on agricultural work. In turn, for the Polynesians, Arcturus was the “Star of Joy”.

The Arcturus passes through the zenith at the latitude of Hawaii. This allowed Polynesian navigators to find these islands in the Pacific. In modern astronomy, Arcturus is the first star to show its own motion. The discovery was made in 1718 by Edmund Halley comparing the then observations with the old ones. Since the time of Ptolemy, the Arcturus has traveled more than a degree south, farther from the center of the constellation. It is 25 times larger in diameter than the sun. The age of the star is estimated at 5.9 to 8.6 billion years. Arcturus is a binary star according to Hipparcos’ measurements, but there are still no final results confirming this discovery.

1. Vega is located almost 25 light years from the Sun and about 37 times brighter. It is located in the constellation Lute. The star is visible from the entire northern hemisphere of the Earth, while from the southern hemisphere up to the latitude of 51’S. Vega is the first star to be photographed after the Sun – the first photo was taken in 1850. It is likely that Vega has a planetary system.

Star observation

Stars have always aroused great interest among observers. Unfortunately, today there are more and more problems with finding a suitable observation site. This is because the sky is polluted with artificial light. Lanterns, illuminated billboards, advertisements – all this means that there are less and less areas with a clearly visible starry sky.

In order to calmly observe the stars and find romantic stargazing locations, you should go to a place with as little artificial lighting as possible. In recent years, a special direction in tourism has even been created – astro tourism, which offers trips to areas unpolluted by artificial lighting. In addition, dark sky protected areas are created in various places, the purpose of which is to stop the light flooding us from everywhere. For novice observers, a map of the sky will suffice. Thanks to it, they will learn to recognize and distinguish the brightest stars in the sky. The next step is to buy regular binoculars. Only then can you think about a telescope that will allow you to observe celestial bodies more closely.