Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Astronomy

J | The Brightest Twenty Stars

AstronomyJ | The Brightest Twenty Stars

Note: These are the stars that appear the brightest visually, as seen from our vantage point on Earth. They are not necessarily the stars that are intrinsically the most luminous.

A table titled “The Brightest Twenty Stars” with eleven columns and twenty-one rows. The first row is a header row and labels each column: “Traditional Name footnote: The brightest stars typically have names from antiquity. Next to each star’s ancient name, we have added a column with its name in the system originated by Bayer”, “Bayer Name”, “Luminosity (Sun = 1)”, “Distance (light-year) footnote: The distances of the more remote stars are estimated from their spectral types and apparent brightnesses and are only approximate. The luminosities for those stars are approximate to the same degree.”, “Spectral Type”, “Proper Motion: RA (arcsec/y)”, “Proper Motion: Dec (arcsec/y)”, “Right Ascension (h) footnote: Right ascension given for Epoch 2000.0”, “Right Ascension (m) footnote: Right ascension given for Epoch 2000.0”, “Declination (deg) footnote: Declination given for Epoch 2000.0”, “Declination (min) footnote: Declination given for Epoch 2000.0”. The second row reads “Sirius “, “α Canis Majoris”, “22.5”, “8.6”, “A1 V”, “−0.5”, “−1.2”, “06”, “45.2”, “−16”, “43”. The third row reads “Canopus “, “α Carinae”, “13,500”, “309”, “F0 II”, “+0.02”, “+0.02”, “06”, “24.0”, “−52”, “42”. The fourth row reads “Rigil Kentaurus”, “α Centauri”, “1.94”, “4.32”, “G2 V + K IV”, “−3.7”, “+0.5”, “14”, “39.7”, “−60”, “50”. The fifth row reads “Arcturus “, “α Bootis”, “120”, “36.72”, “K1.5 III”, “−1.1”, “−2.0”, “14”, “15.7”, “+19”, “11”. The sixth row reads “Vega “, “α Lyrae”, “49”, “25.04”, “A0 V”, “+0.2”, “+0.3”, “18”, “36.9”, “+38”, “47”. The seventh row reads “Capella “, “α Aurigae”, “140”, “42.80”, “G8 III + G0 III”, “+0.08”, “−0.4”, “05”, “16.7”, “+46”, “00”. The eighth row reads “Rigel “, “β Orionis”, “50,600”, “863”, “B8 I”, “+0.00”, “+0.00”, “05”, “14.5”, “−08”, “12”. The ninth row reads “Procyon”, “α Canis Minoris”, “7.31”, “11.46”, “F5 IV-V”, “−0.7”, “−1.0”, “07”, “39.3”, “+05”, “14”. The tenth row reads “Achernar “, “α Eridani”, “1030”, “139”, “B3 V”, “+0.10”, “−0.04”, “01”, “37.7”, “−57”, “14”. The eleventh row reads “Betelgeuse “, “α Orionis”, “13,200”, “498”, “M2 I”, “+0.02”, “+0.01”, “05”, “55.2”, “+07”, “24”. The twelfth row reads “Hadar”, “β Centauri”, “7050”, “392”, “B1 III”, “−0.03”, “−0.02”, “14”, “03.8”, “−60”, “22”. The thirteenth row reads “Altair “, “α Aquilae”, “11.2”, “16.73”, “A7 V”, “+0.5”, “+0.4”, “19”, “50.8”, “+08”, “52”. The fourteenth row reads “Acrux “, “α Crucis”, “4090”, “322”, “B0.5 IV + B1 V”, “−0.04”, “−0.01”, “12”, “26.6”, “−63”, “06”. The fifteenth row reads “Aldebaran”, “α Tauri”, “160”, “66.64”, “K5 III”, “+0.1”, “−0.2”, “04”, “35.9”, “+16”, “31”. The sixteenth row reads “Spica “, “α Virginis”, “2030”, “250”, “B1 III-IV + B2 V”, “−0.04”, “−0.03”, “13”, “25.2”, “−11”, “10”. The seventeenth row reads “Antares”, “α Scorpii”, “9290”, “554”, “M1.5 I + B2.5 V”, “−0.01”, “−0.02”, “16”, “29.4”, “−26”, “26”. The eighteenth row reads “Pollux “, “β Geminorum”, “31.6”, “33.78”, “K0 III”, “−0.6”, “−0.05”, “07”, “45.3”, “+28”, “02”. The nineteenth row reads “Fomalhaut “, “α Piscis Austrini”, “17.2”, “25.13”, “A3 V”, “+0.03”, “−0.2”, “22”, “57.6”, “−29”, “37”. The twentieth row reads “Mimosa”, “β Crucis”, “1980”, “279”, “B0.5 III”, “−0.04”, “−0.02”, “12”, “47.7”, “−59”, “41”. The twenty-first row reads “Deneb “, “α Cygni”, “50,600”, “1412”, “A2 I”, “+0.00”, “+0.00”, “20”, “41.4”, “+45”, “17”.
Figure J1 The brightest stars typically have names from antiquity. Next to each star's ancient name, we have added a column with its name in the system originated by Bayer (see the Naming Stars feature box.) The distances of the more remote stars are estimated from their spectral types and apparent brightnesses and are only approximate. The luminosities for those stars are approximate to the same degree. Right ascension and declination is given for Epoch 2000.0.
PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/astronomy/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/astronomy/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jan 28, 2022 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.