The Dog Star, Sirius, is easy to spot because it's the sky's brightest star. Procyon - the other Dog Star - is near its brighter brother on the sky's dome.
Blue-white Rigel shines as the brightest star in the constellation Orion the Hunter. It's a hot massive star in the latter stages of its stellar evolution.
Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus the Bull, is at one tip of a V-shaped cluster. If placed where our sun is, its surface would pass the orbit of Mercury.
Achernar is the 9th brightest star and flattest star known. It marks the end of Eridanus the River. Here's why much of Earth never sees it ... and how you can.
Fomalhaut is known as the “lonely one” or the "solitary one" because it shines brightly in a patch of sky with no other bright stars. In 2023, Saturn is nearby.
Larry Sessions has written many favorite posts in EarthSky's Tonight area. He's a former planetarium director in Little Rock, Fort Worth and Denver and an adjunct faculty member at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He's a longtime member of NASA's Solar System Ambassadors program. His articles have appeared in numerous publications including Space.com, Sky & Telescope, Astronomy and Rolling Stone. His small book on world star lore, Constellations, was published by Running Press.
2024 EarthSky Fundraiser
Any amount will help us reach our goal.
Would you consider
donating?
If you've already donated, we apologize for the popup and greatly appreciate your support.