What is the brightest star in the night sky?

Sirius, in Canis Major, is the brightest star in the night sky, at magnitude -1.44. Only the Sun, the Moon and some of the planets look brighter.

What is the brightest star in the northern sky?

Arcturus, in Boötes, is the brightest star north of the celestial equator, at magnitude -0.05.

Is the North Star the brightest star?

No. Polaris ranks 45th of the 74 stars on this list, at magnitude 1.97. It's famous because it barely moves, not because it's bright.

What does a star's magnitude mean?

Magnitude measures how bright a star looks from Earth. Lower numbers are brighter, and each step of one magnitude is about 2.5 times in brightness.

Where do star names come from?

Most bright star names come from Arabic, and a few from Greek and Latin. The International Astronomical Union keeps the official list.

The brightest stars in the night sky

Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, at magnitude -1.44, followed by Canopus and Rigil Kentaurus. This list ranks 74 bright named stars by magnitude, with the constellation each one is in and the season it's best seen.

Bright stars by magnitude

The season is when each star stands highest in the evening sky in the southern hemisphere. The hemisphere is the half of the sky the star is in, north or south of the celestial equator.

Bright stars by magnitude
Rank	Star	Constellation	Magnitude	Best season	Hemisphere
1	Sirius	Canis Major	-1.44	summer	Southern
2	Canopus	Carina	-0.62	summer	Southern
3	Rigil Kentaurus	Centaurus	-0.27	winter	Southern
4	Arcturus	Boötes	-0.05	winter	Northern
5	Vega	Lyra	0.03	winter	Northern
6	Capella	Auriga	0.08	summer	Northern
7	Rigel	Orion	0.18	summer	Southern
8	Procyon	Canis Minor	0.40	autumn	Northern
9	Achernar	Eridanus	0.45	spring	Southern
9	Betelgeuse	Orion	0.45	summer	Northern
11	Hadar	Centaurus	0.61	winter	Southern
12	Altair	Aquila	0.76	spring	Northern
13	Acrux	Crux	0.77	autumn	Southern
14	Aldebaran	Taurus	0.87	summer	Northern
15	Spica	Virgo	0.98	autumn	Southern
16	Antares	Scorpius	1.06	winter	Southern
17	Pollux	Gemini	1.16	autumn	Northern
18	Fomalhaut	Piscis Austrinus	1.17	spring	Southern
19	Deneb	Cygnus	1.25	spring	Northern
19	Mimosa	Crux	1.25	autumn	Southern
21	Regulus	Leo	1.36	autumn	Northern
22	Adhara	Canis Major	1.50	summer	Southern
23	Castor	Gemini	1.58	summer	Northern
24	Gacrux	Crux	1.59	autumn	Southern
25	Shaula	Scorpius	1.62	winter	Southern
26	Bellatrix	Orion	1.64	summer	Northern
27	Elnath	Taurus	1.65	summer	Northern
28	Miaplacidus	Carina	1.67	autumn	Southern
29	Alnilam	Orion	1.69	summer	Southern
30	Alnair	Grus	1.73	spring	Southern
31	Alnitak	Orion	1.74	summer	Southern
32	Alioth	Ursa Major	1.76	autumn	Northern
33	Kaus Australis	Sagittarius	1.79	winter	Southern
33	Mirfak	Perseus	1.79	summer	Northern
35	Dubhe	Ursa Major	1.81	autumn	Northern
36	Wezen	Canis Major	1.83	summer	Southern
37	Alkaid	Ursa Major	1.85	winter	Northern
38	Avior	Carina	1.86	autumn	Southern
38	Sargas	Scorpius	1.86	winter	Southern
40	Menkalinan	Auriga	1.90	summer	Northern
41	Atria	Triangulum Australe	1.91	winter	Southern
42	Alhena	Gemini	1.93	summer	Northern
42	Alsephina	Vela	1.93	autumn	Southern
44	Peacock	Pavo	1.94	spring	Southern
45	Polaris	Ursa Minor	1.97	summer	Northern
46	Mirzam	Canis Major	1.98	summer	Southern
47	Alphard	Hydra	1.99	autumn	Southern
48	Algieba	Leo	2.01	autumn	Northern
48	Hamal	Aries	2.01	summer	Northern
50	Diphda	Cetus	2.04	spring	Southern
51	Nunki	Sagittarius	2.05	winter	Southern
52	Menkent	Centaurus	2.06	winter	Southern
53	Alpheratz	Andromeda	2.07	spring	Northern
53	Kochab	Ursa Minor	2.07	winter	Northern
53	Mirach	Andromeda	2.07	spring	Northern
53	Saiph	Orion	2.07	summer	Southern
53	Tiaki	Grus	2.07	spring	Southern
58	Rasalhague	Ophiuchus	2.08	winter	Northern
59	Algol	Perseus	2.09	summer	Northern
60	Almach	Andromeda	2.10	summer	Northern
61	Denebola	Leo	2.14	autumn	Northern
62	Cih	Cassiopeia	2.15	spring	Northern
63	Aspidiske	Carina	2.21	autumn	Southern
63	Naos	Puppis	2.21	autumn	Southern
65	Alphecca	Corona Borealis	2.22	winter	Northern
66	Mizar	Ursa Major	2.23	autumn	Northern
66	Sadr	Cygnus	2.23	spring	Northern
66	Suhail	Vela	2.23	autumn	Southern
69	Eltanin	Draco	2.24	winter	Northern
69	Schedar	Cassiopeia	2.24	spring	Northern
71	Mintaka	Orion	2.25	summer	Southern
72	Caph	Cassiopeia	2.28	spring	Northern
73	Dschubba	Scorpius	2.29	winter	Southern
73	Larawag	Scorpius	2.29	winter	Southern

How star brightness works

Astronomers measure how bright a star looks with its magnitude. The lower the number, the brighter the star, and the very brightest stars have negative magnitudes, like Sirius at -1.44.

Each step of one magnitude is about 2.5 times in brightness, and five steps are exactly 100 times. So Sirius looks about 23 times brighter than Polaris, the North Star, at magnitude 1.97.

Under a dark sky, you can see stars down to about magnitude 6. Every star on this list is brighter than magnitude 2.3, so you can find them from most towns and cities on a clear night.

How stars get their names

Most bright star names come from Arabic. Astronomers in the Arab world named many stars in the Middle Ages, and the names reached Europe through Latin translations. That's why so many start with Al, the Arabic word for the.

A few names are Greek or Latin, such as Sirius and Regulus, and some are modern, such as Acrux, a short form of Alpha Crucis. Since 2016, the International Astronomical Union has kept the official list of star names.

Celestial names and their meanings

Looking for the North Star?

Polaris, the North Star, ranks 45th on this list, at magnitude 1.97. It's famous for where it sits, not for how bright it is: it's only 0.6° from the north celestial pole, so it hardly moves all night.

How to find Polaris

See which stars are up

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