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Top 10 Brightest Stars  
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Tags: stars, bright, sun, watching, sky, night, dark, Summer

Have you spent a night this summer just staring up at the stars? Maybe pointing out constellations? It's a fun thing to do with kids or can be a romantic date to spend with your significant other. But even if you are out there all alone, here are the brightest ones you'll ever see:

1.	Sirius - It is twice as bright as any other star in our sky and resides in the constellation Canis major, a.k.a. Big Dog.
2.	Canopus - Canopus resides in the constellation Carina, The Keel. Though 316 light-years away, it is 14,800 times as bright as the Sun. Sirius, is just 8.5 light-years distant.
3.	Alpha Centauri - Alpha Centauri (or Rigel Kentaurus, as it is also known) is actually a system composed of three gravitationally bound stars.
4.	Arcturus - Arcturus (a.k.a. Bear Watcher) is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. Arcturus is an orange giant, twice as massive and 215 times as bright as the Sun.
5.	Vega - Vega is part of the constellation Lyra, the Harp. Vega is a hydrogen-burning dwarf star, 54 times more luminous and 1.5 times more massive than the Sun and 25 light-years away.
6.	Capella - Capella is the primary star in the constellation Auriga the "Charioteer" and the brightest star that is near the north celestial pole. It is 42 light years away.
7.	Rigel - On the western heel of Orion, the Hunter, rests brilliant Rigel. In classical mythology, Rigel marks the spot where Scorpio, the Scorpion stung Orion after a brief and fierce battle. Its Arabic name means the Foot.
8.	Procyon - Procyon resides in the small constellation of Canis Minor, the Little Dog. The constellation symbolizes the smaller of Orion’s two hunting dogs (Canis Minor and Canis Major). Procyon is a yellow-white main sequence star, twice the size and 7 times more luminous than the Sun.
9.	Achernar - Achernar is derived from the Arabic phrase meaning "the end of the river," an appropriate name for a star that marks the southernmost flow of the constellation Eridanus, the River. Achernar is the hottest star on this list. Its temperature has been measured to be between 24,740 and 33,740 degrees Fahrenheit
10.	Betelgeuse - Don’t let Betelgeuse’s ranking as the tenth brightest star in the sky fool you. Its distance -- 430 light-years -- hides the true scale of this supergiant. With a whopping luminosity of 55,000 suns, Betelgeuse still shines bright in our skies at a magnitude of 0.5. Betelgeuse is an M1 red supergiant, 650 times the diameter and about 15 times the mass of the Sun. If Betelgeuse were to replace the Sun, planets out to the orbit of Mars would be engulfed!

Lister: Pratt

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Comments: Wow! I though Sirius was just the satellite radio provider. Comment by: buccicone.2