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Beyond the Solar System > Stars
Brightest Northern-Hemisphere Stars
Star Distance* Magnitude** Factoid Season
Sirius 8.7 -1.46 Known as "the Dog Star," in Canis Major. A binary star. Winter
Canopus 300 -0.72 A rare yellow-white supergiant star. Winter***
Alpha Centauri 4 -0.01 A triple system of the closest stars to the Sun. Summer***
Arcturus 36 -0.04 A yellow giant star in Boötes. Much less dense than the Sun, but 25 times its size. Spring
Vega 26 +0.03 Surrounded by a dust disk that may harbor a planet. In Lyra. Summer
Capella 46 +0.08 A binary star in Auriga. Each member is 25 times larger than the Sun. Winter
Rigel 800 +0.12 A young blue supergiant star marking Orion's right foot. Winter
Procyon 11.2 +0.38 A white subgiant called the "little dog star," in Canis Minor. Winter
Achernar   +0.46 The closest star to Earth that will explode as a supernova. Winter***
Hadar   +0.61 A triple star system also known as Beta Centauri Summer***
Betelgeuse 650 +0.80 A yellow-orange supergiant star in Orion. Winter
Altair 16 +0.80 A blue-white main sequence star in Aquila. Summer
Aldebaran 70 +0.90 A yellow giant star in Taurus. Autumn
Spica 250 +1.00 A blue-white giant star in Virgo. Winter
Antares 600 +1.00 A yellow-orange supergiant star in Scorpius. Summer
Pollux 35 +1.20 A yellow giant star. One of the twins of Gemini. Winter
Fomalhaut 23 +1.10 A blue-white main sequence star in Pisces Austrinus. Autumn
Deneb 1,600 +1.30 A blue-white supergiant star in Cygnus. Summer

* Light-years.
** Lower values mean increasing brightness. The full Moon is magnitude -12.6.
*** Visible from southern United States.

This document was last modified: October 19 2009.

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