At night some stars are brighter than others, and at the very top is Sirius. Let’s find out more about this astro.
Sirius is the brightest star in our night sky and is found in the constellation of Canis Major or Winter Triangle. Its name comes from ancient Greek meaning “glowing”. It’s at a mere 8.6 light years away, just double that of the closest star to the Earth (Alpha Centauri) and the fifth closest star system.
Because is so far away, it looks like a single bright point in the sky, but in reality Sirius is a binary star system consisting of two white stars, Sirius A and Sirius B, orbiting each other with a separation of about 20 AU or 2.991*10^12 m. For comparison 18.4 AU is roughly the distance between the Sun and Uranus! The arrow points to the tiny Sirius B.
Sorgente: Twinkle Twinkle Sirius Star >> beautyinspace.com
