Betelgeuse is the tenth brightest star in the sky. It is a red supergiant about 13,000 times brighter than our sun and over 1000 times larger. If you placed Betelgeuse in the place of our sun, it would extend past the orbit of Jupiter. Its name is from the Arabic armpit, and is near the right shoulder of Orion. It is nearing the end of its life and will soon become a supernova. Betelgeuse is in the constellation Orion.
Achernar is the ninth brightest star. It is a bluish-white white supergiant star that is about 69 light years from Earth. Its name is from the Arabic meaning end of the river, in this case, the river being Eridanus. Achernar is in the constellation Eridanus.
Procyon is the eighth brightest star night sky. It is a yellow-white star and at 11.4 light years, one of the closer stars to Earth. Its name is from the Greek meaning before the dog, i.e., before the Dog Star, Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. It is a visual binary star. Procyon is in the constellation Canis Minor.
Rigel the seventh brightest star in the sky, Rigel’s name is from the Arabic for foot, indicating its place in the constellation Orion. It is a blue supergiant and part of a 4 star system, consisting of 2 binary stars. Rigel is approximately 1400 light-years from earth. Rigel is in the constellation Orion.
Capella is the sixth brightest star in the sky, Capella’s name is from the Latin for little she-goat. Capella is a yellow giant star, like our own sun, but much larger. It is part of a binary star sysem with a red giant star. The two orbit around each other once every 104 days. Capella is approximately 41 light-years from earth. Capella is in the constellation Auriga.
Vega is the fifth brightest star in the sky. Its name comes from the Arabic for the swooping eagle. Vega is about 25 light-years from Earth. It is three times the size of the sun and 50 times as luminous. Vega is located in the constellation Lyra.
Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation Bootes, which is one of the oldest constellations in the night sky. It is the 4th-brightest star in the entire sky. Arcturus means bear guard, as it overlooks the constellation Ursa Major. It is an orange giant with a diameter about 10 times that of the sun and a luminosity about 100 times that of the sun. At about 34 light-years, Arcturus is one of the nearest giant stars. Arcturus is located in the constellation Bootes.
Rigel Kentaurus, also known as Alpha Centauri, is the third brightest star in the sky. Its name literally means foot of the centaur. It is actually a triple star system made up of Alpha Centauri A, Alpha Centauri B, and Alpha Centauri C (also known as Proxima Centauri because it is the closet star to earth at 4.3 light years). Rigel Kentaurus is located in the constellation Centaurus.
Canopus, also called Alpha Carinae, second brightest star (after Sirius) in the night sky, with a visual magnitude of −0.73. Lying in the southern constellation Carina, 310 light-years from Earth, Canopus is sometimes used as a guide in the attitude control of spacecraft because of its angular distance from the Sun and the contrast of its brightness among nearby celestial objects. The Syrian Stoic philosopher Poseidonius (c. 135–50 bc) used sightings of Canopus near the horizon in his estimation of the size of Earth.
Sirius, also known as the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the sky. It is the chief star in the constellation Canis Major, the Big Dog. Have you ever heard anyone speak of the dog days of summer? Sirius is behind the sun as seen from Earth in Northern Hemisphere summer. In late summer, it appears in the east before sunrise – near the sun in our sky. The early stargazers might have imagined that the double-whammy of Sirius and the sun caused the hot weather, or dog days.
