Stars · White main-sequence star

Sirius

8.6 light-years · Light crosses it in 7.9 seconds

Across

2.4 million km

Vs Earth

1.71× Sun

Mass

2.06 Suns

Open Sirius in Cosmic Scale

About

Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, partly because it is genuinely luminous and partly because it is close. It is a young white star with a white-dwarf companion, and it twinkles violently when low in the sky.

The brightest star in the night sky.

At a glance

Distance	8.6 light-years
Brightness	25 Suns
Surface	9,940 K
Companion	Sirius B, a white dwarf

Did you know

1. The ancient Egyptians timed the Nile flood by its first appearance at dawn each year.
2. Its name means 'scorching'; the hot days of summer are called dog days because it rises with the Sun then.
3. It is moving closer, and will brighten slightly over the next 60,000 years.

Real photo

• Sirius A and its white-dwarf companion Sirius B, Hubble — NASA, ESA, H. Bond (STScI), and M. Barstow (University of Leicester) (CC BY 4.0) · source