Sirius

Sirius (α CMa / α Canis Majoris / Alpha Canis Majoris) is the brightest star in the nighttime sky, with a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46. It is located in the constellation Canis Major. Its name comes from the Latin sīrius, from Greek σείριος (seirios, "glowing"). As the major star of the "Big Dog" constellation, it is often called the "Dog Star".

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Sirius can be seen from every inhabited region of the Earth's surface and, in the Northern Hemisphere, is known as a vertex of the Winter Triangle.

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At a distance of 2.6 pc or 8.57 light years, Sirius is also one of the nearest stars to Earth. The best time of year to view it is around January 1, when it reaches the meridian at midnight.

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It is a main sequence star of spectral type A0 or A1 and has a mass about 2.4 times that of the Sun.

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It is also known by the Latin name Canicula ("little dog") and as ?????? a?-?i?r? in Arabic astronomy, from which the alternate name Aschere derives.

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Its closest large neighbour star is Procyon, 1.61 pc or 5.24 ly away.

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In 1909, Ejnar Hertzsprung suggested that Sirius was part of the Ursa Major Moving Group; however, more recent research by Jeremy King et al. at Clemson University in 2003 questions whether that is true, since the two components of Sirius appear to be too young.

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Alpha: The first letter of the Greek alphabet, Α α, also has some cultural meanings; see alpha (letter)....

Apparent magnitude: The apparent magnitude (m) of a star, planet or other heavenly body is a measure of its apparent brightness. The brighter the object appears the lower its value....

Constellation: A constellation is a group of stars visibly related to each other in a particular configuration. In three-dimensional space, most of the stars we see have little relation to one another, but can appear to be grouped on the celestial sphere of the night sky. Humans excel at finding patterns and throu...

Sirius related Images and Photos (experimental)

Lampe Sirius	Cycles Sirius	Gibraltar: H.M.S. "Sirius" Sailing Off	Harry Potter Sirius Black's Wand by Noble Collection
Harry, Hermione, & Ron with Sirius Black Figurine