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