The names of the brightest stars in the universe are: Sirius Canopus, Rigel Kentaurus, Arcturus Vega
Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the universe. The star Sirius is also known as Alfa Canis Major, this is because Sirius is in the constellation Canis Major or the big dog.
Reporting from Astronomy Picture, Sirius is 20 times brighter than the sun with a size that is also twice as big as the sun.
However, Sirius is about 8.7 light years from Earth. Thus, it does not appear brighter than the sun from the earth.
However, Sirius remains the brightest star in the night sky.
The Sirius star is actually a twin star system in the form of Sirius A and Sirius B. Sirius A is the brightest star, while Sirius B is about 10,000 times dimmer than Sirius A.
Canopus
The name of the second brightest star in the universe is Canopus. Canopus is also known as Alfa Cariane because it is the brightest star in the constellation Carina.
Canopus is about 313 years from Earth and has about the same mass as the sun.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Canopus is used as a guide in spacecraft control because of its angular distance from the sun and the contrast in brightness among nearby celestial bodies.
Rigel Centaurus
The name of the third brightest star in the universe is Rigel Kentaurus or better known as Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri is about 4.3 light years from Earth and is in the southern constellation Centaurus.
Arcturus
Arcturus is the fourth brightest star in the universe. Arcturus is in the constellation Bootes and is about 40 light years from Earth.
Reporting from Space, Arcturus is only about 1.5 times the mass of the sun, but shines about 113 times brighter than the sun.
This is because Arcturus emits about 215 times more heat than the sun. Vega The fifth brightest star is Vega.
Vega is also known as Alfa Lyrae because it is in the constellation Lyra which forms the summer triangle.
Vega is 25 light years from the sun and is about three times the size of the sun. Vega is much younger than the sun, only about 455 million years old.
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