Posted by EarthSky Voices in Brightest Stars |
February 4, 2021
The sky’s brightest star – Sirius – is a double star. A small white dwarf called Sirius B, or the Pup, orbits the larger primary star. The Pup isn’t easy to spot, but it is possible. Here’s how.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Michael Teoh at Heng Ee Observatory in Penang, Malaysia, captured this photo of Sirius A and Sirius B (a white dwarf) on January 26, 2021. He used 30 1-second exposures and stacked them together to make faint Sirius B appear. Thank you, Michael!
Sirius the Dog Star is the brightest star in the night sky, visible anywhere on Earth except the far north. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere at a temperate latitude, Sirius is the very bright white star due south every winter in the evening. But did you know that Sirius is also a double star? The companion, Sirius B, also known as