Although visually it looks like one star, Sirius actually consists of two stars that are very close together, known as Sirius A and Sirius B. From the mid-northern latitudes, Sirius rises in the southeast, arcs across the southern sky, and sets in the southwest.Īny easy way to find Sirius in winter skies is to use the belt of Orion as a downward pointer following the three stars in Orion’s belt to the left. Where to look for Sirius?įrom the southern hemisphere, Sirius arcs high overhead. Sirius also forms the Winter Hexagon (or Winter Circle) asterism, which appears prominently in the northern sky between December and March and is also part of the Winter Triangle. This constellation includes many popular deep-sky objects including: From mid-northern latitudes, Canis Major sits low in the sky and can be difficult to observe in its entirety.Ĭanis Major contains the following ten named stars: Adhara, Aludra, Amadioha, Atakoraka, Furud, Mirzam, Muliphein, Sirius, Unurgunite, and Wezen Sirius is in the constellation Canis Major, a southern constellation bordering on Monoceros, Lepus, Columba, and Puppis. Sirus will become fainter but will remain the brightest star in the sky for thousands of years. Eventually, the distance between Earth and Sirius will increase. There are few stars that are closer to Earth, but none of them can match Sirius’ magnitude.īased on calculations from the European Space Agency’s Hipparcos satellite, Sirius will continue to increase in brightness over the next 60,000 years, as Sirius gradually moves closer.
Sirius’ brightness can be attributed to its luminosity and proximity at a distance of 8.6 light-years. Typically, the only objects that outshine Sirius in our night sky are the sun, moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and sometimes Mercury.
The name Sirius stems from the Greek word Seirios, meaning ‘scorching’ or ‘glowing’. Sirius is also known as the ‘ Dog star’ because it is part of the constellation Canis Major, which is Latin for “the greater dog.” Sirius is known for being the brightest star in the night sky and is nearly twice as bright as the next brightest star, Canopus with a magnitude of -1.46.
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