home Audience 1 The brightest star in the night sky. Reference. The brightest stars visible at our latitudes (55o)

The brightest star in the night sky. Reference. The brightest stars visible at our latitudes (55o)

The night sky amazes with its beauty and countless number of heavenly fireflies. What is especially fascinating is that their arrangement is structured, as if they were specially placed in the right order, forming star systems. Since ancient times, stargazers have tried to count all these myriads of heavenly bodies and give them names. Today, a huge number of stars have been discovered in the sky, but this is only a small part of all existing vast Universe. Let's look at what constellations and luminaries there are.

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Stars and their classification

A star is a celestial body that emits enormous amounts of light and heat.

It consists mainly of helium (lat. Helium), as well as (lat. Hydrogenium).

The celestial body is in a state of equilibrium due to the pressure inside the body itself and its own.

Emits warmth and light as a result of thermonuclear reactions, occurring inside the body.

What types are there depending on life cycle and structure:

Main sequence. This is the main life cycle of the star. This is exactly what it is, as well as the vast majority of others.
Brown dwarf. A relatively small, dim object with a low temperature. The first one was opened in 1995.
White dwarf. At the end of its life cycle, the ball begins to shrink until its density balances gravity. Then it goes out and cools down.
Red giant. A huge body that emits a large amount of light, but is not very hot (up to 5000 K).
New. New stars do not light up, just old ones flare up with renewed vigor.
Supernova. This is the same new one with the release of a large amount of light.
Hypernova. This is a supernova, but much larger.
Bright Blue Variables (LBV). The biggest and also the hottest.
Ultra X-ray sources (ULX). They release large amounts of radiation.
Neutron. Characterized by rapid rotation and a strong magnetic field.
Unique. Double, with different sizes.

Types depending from the spectrum:

Important! Most of the stars in the sky are entire systems. What we see as one may actually be two, three, five or even hundreds of bodies of one system.

Names of stars and constellations

The stars have always fascinated us. They became the object of study, both from the mystical side (astrology, alchemy) and from the scientific side (astronomy). People looked for them, calculated them, counted them, put them into constellations, and also give them names. Constellations are clusters of celestial bodies located in a certain sequence.

In the sky, under certain conditions, up to 6 thousand stars can be seen from different points. They have their own scientific names, but about three hundred of them also have personal names that they received from ancient times. Stars mostly have Arabic names.

The fact is that when astronomy was actively developing everywhere, the Western world was experiencing the “dark ages”, so its development lagged significantly behind. Here Mesopotamia was most successful, China less so.

The Arabs not only discovered new but they also renamed the heavenly bodies, who already had a Latin or Greek name. They went down in history with Arabic names. The constellations mostly had Latin names.

Brightness depends on the light emitted, size and distance from us. The brightest star is the Sun. It is not the largest, not the brightest, but it is closest to us.

The most beautiful luminaries with the greatest brightness. The first among them:

Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris);
Canopus (Alpha Carinae);
Toliman (Alpha Centauri);
Arcturus (Alpha Bootes);
Vega (Alpha Lyrae).

Naming periods

Conventionally, we can distinguish several periods in which people gave names to heavenly bodies.

Pre-Antique period

Since ancient times, people have tried to “understand” the sky and gave the night luminaries names. No more than 20 names from those times have reached us. Scientists from Babylon, Egypt, Israel, Assyria and Mesopotamia worked actively here.

Greek period

The Greeks didn't really delve into astronomy. They gave names to only a small number of luminaries. Mostly, they took names from the names of the constellations or simply attributed existing names. All astronomical knowledge of ancient Greece, as well as Babylon, was collected Greek scientist Ptolemy Claudius(I-II centuries) in the works “Almagest” and “Tetrabiblos”.

Almagest (Great Construction) is the work of Ptolemy in thirteen books, where he, based on the work of Hipparchus of Nicea (c. 140 BC), tries to explain the structure of the Universe. He also lists the names of some of the brightest constellations.

Table of celestial bodies described in the Almagest

Name of the stars	Name of constellations	Description, location
Sirius	Big dog	Located in the mouth of the constellation. She is also called the Dog. The brightest of the night sky.
Procyon	Small dog	On the hind legs.
Arcturus	Bootes	Did not enter Bootes form. It is located below it.
Regulus	a lion	Located in the heart of Leo. Also called Tsarskaya.
Spica	Virgo	On the left hand. It has another name - Kolos.
Antares	Scorpion	Located in the middle.
Vega	Lyra	Located on the sink. Another name is Alpha Lyra.
Chapel	Auriga	Left shoulder. Also called - Goat.
Canopus	Ship Argo	On the keel of the ship.

Tetrabiblos is another work of Ptolemy Claudius in four books. The list of celestial bodies is supplemented here.

Roman period

The Roman Empire was engaged in the study of astronomy, but when this science began to actively develop, Rome fell. And behind the state, its science fell into decay. However, about a hundred stars have Latin names, although this does not guarantee that they were given names their scientists are from Rome.

Arab period

The fundamental work of the Arabs in the study of astronomy was the work of Ptolemy Almagest. They translated most of them into Arabic. Based on the religious beliefs of the Arabs, they replaced the names of some of the luminaries. Names were often given based on the location of the body in the constellation. So, many of them have names or parts of names meaning neck, leg or tail.

Table of Arabic names

Arabic name	Meaning	Stars with Arabic names	Constellation
Ras	Head	Alpha Hercules	Hercules
Algenib	Side	Alpha Persei, Gamma Persei	Perseus
Menkib	Shoulder	Alpha Orionis, Alpha Pegasus, Beta Pegasus, Beta Aurigae, Zeta Persei, Phita Centauri	Pegasus, Perseus, Orion, Centaurus, Auriga
Rigel	Leg	Alpha Centauri, Beta Orionis, Mu Virgo	Centaurus, Orion, Virgo
Rukba	Knee	Alpha Sagittarius, Delta Cassiopeia, Upsilon Cassiopeia, Omega Cygnus	Sagittarius, Cassiopeia, Swan
Sheat	Shin	Beta Pegasus, Delta Aquarius	Pegasus, Aquarius
Mirfak	Elbow	Alpha Persei, Capa Hercules, Lambda Ophiuchus, Phita and Mu Cassiopeia	Perseus, Ophiuchus, Cassiopeia, Hercules
Menkar	Nose	Alpha Ceti, Lambda Ceti, Upsilon Crow	Keith, Raven
Markab	That which moves	Alpha Pegasus, Tau Pegasus, Cape of Sails	Ship Argo, Pegasus

Renaissance

Since the 16th century in Europe, antiquity has been revived, and with it science. Arabic names did not change, but Arabic-Latin hybrids often appeared.

New clusters of celestial bodies were practically not discovered, but old ones were supplemented with new objects. A significant event of that time was the release of the starry atlas “Uranometry”.

Its compiler was the amateur astronomer Johann Bayer (1603). On the atlas he painted an artistic image of the constellations.

And most importantly, he suggested principle of naming luminaries with the addition of letters of the Greek alphabet. The brightest body of the constellation will be called “Alpha”, the less bright “Beta” and so on until “Omega”. For example, the brightest star in Scorpii is Alpha Scorpii, the less bright Beta Scorpii, then Gamma Scorpii, etc.

Nowadays

With the advent of powerful ones, a huge number of luminaries began to be discovered. Now they are not given beautiful names, but are simply assigned an index with a digital and alphabetic code. But it happens that celestial bodies are given personal names. They are called by names scientific discoverers, and now you can even buy the opportunity to name the luminary as you wish.

Important! The sun is not part of any constellation.

What are the constellations?

Initially, the figures were figures formed by bright luminaries. Nowadays scientists use them as landmarks of the celestial sphere.

The most famous constellations in alphabetical order:

What are the constellations of the Zodiac?

Zodiac signs - constellations through which the earth passes through throughout the year, forming a conditional ring around the system. Interestingly, there are 12 accepted zodiac signs, although Ophiuchus, which is not considered a zodiac, is also located on this ring.

Attention! There are no constellations.

By and large, there are no figures at all made up of celestial bodies.

After all, when we look at the sky, we perceive it as plane in two dimensions, but the luminaries are located not on a plane, but in space, at a huge distance from each other.

They do not form any pattern.

Let's say that light from Proxima Centauri, closest to the Sun, reaches us in almost 4.3 years.

And from another object of the same star system, Omega Centauri, it reaches the earth in 16 thousand years. All divisions are quite arbitrary.

Constellations and stars - sky map, interesting facts

Names of stars and constellations

Conclusion

It is impossible to calculate a reliable number of celestial bodies in the Universe. You can't even get close to the exact number. Stars unite into galaxies. Our Milky Way galaxy alone numbers about 100,000,000,000. From Earth using the most powerful telescopes About 55,000,000,000 galaxies can be detected. With the advent of the Hubble telescope, which is in orbit around the Earth, scientists have discovered about 125,000,000,000 galaxies, each with billions, hundreds of billions of objects. What is clear is that there are at least a trillion trillion luminaries in the Universe, but this is only a small part of what is real.

The science

The night sky is full incredibly beautiful objects, which can be seen even with the naked eye. If you don’t have special equipment to look at the sky, it doesn’t matter, some amazing things can be seen without it.

Spectacular comets, bright planets, distant nebulae, twinkling stars and constellations can all be found in the night sky.

The only thing important to remember is light pollution in big cities. In the city, the light from lanterns and building windows is so strong that all the most interesting things are in the night sky turns out to be hidden, so to see these amazing things you should head out of town.

Light pollution

Brightest planet

Earth's very hot neighbor - Venus can rightfully be proud of the title the brightest planet in the sky. The planet's brightness is due to its highly reflective clouds and its proximity to Earth. Venus approximately 6 times brighter than other neighbors of the Earth - Mars and Jupiter.

Venus is brighter than any other object in the night sky, except, of course, the Moon. Its maximum visible magnitude is around 5. For comparison: the apparent magnitude of the full Moon is -13 , that is, she is approximately 1600 times brighter than Venus.

In February 2012, a unique conjunction of three of the brightest objects in the night sky was observed: Venus, Jupiter and Moon, which could be seen immediately after sunset.

The largest star

The largest star known to science is VY Canis Majoris, a red M-type hypergiant that is located at a distance of approximately 3800 light years from Earth in the constellation Canis Major.

Scientists estimate that the star VY Canis Majoris may be more than 2100 times larger than the Sun in size. If it is placed in the Solar System, then the edges of this monster will be located approximately in the orbit of Saturn.

The surface of a hypergiant can hardly be called noticeably outlined, since this star is approximately 1000 times less dense than our planet's atmosphere at sea level.

VY Canis Majoris is the source a lot of controversy in the scientific world, since the estimate of its size goes beyond the boundaries of the current stellar theory. Astronomers believe that the star VY Canis Majoris will within the next 100 thousand years will explode and die, turning into a “hypernova” and releasing a colossal amount of energy, and this energy will be greater than that of any other supernova.

Brightest star

In 1997, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope discovered that the brightest known star was a star located at a distance 25 thousand light years from us. This star highlights 10 million times more energy than the Sun. This star is also much larger in size than our star. If you place it at the center of the solar system, it will occupy the orbit of the Earth.

Scientists have suggested that this large star, located in the region of the constellation Sagittarius, creates a cloud of gas around itself, which is called The Pistol Nebula. Thanks to this nebula, the star also received the name Pistol star.

Unfortunately, this amazing star is not visible from Earth due to the fact that it is hidden by the dust clouds of the Milky Way. The brightest star in the night sky you can call a star Sirius, located in the constellation Canis Major. The magnitude of Sirius is -1,44.

You can observe Sirius from anywhere on Earth, except the northern regions. The brightness of a star is explained not only by its high luminosity, but also at a relatively close distance. Sirius is located approximately at 8.6 light years from the solar system.

The most beautiful star in the sky

Many stars are known for their different colors of brilliance, such as the system consisting of blue and orange stars Albireo, or bright red giant star Antares. However, the most beautiful of all stars visible to the naked eye can be called the red-orange star Mu Cephei, which is also called "Herschel's Garnet Star" after its first explorer, a British astronomer William Herschel.

The red giant Mu Cephei is located in the constellation Cepheus. This pulsating variable star and its maximum brightness changes from 3.7 to 5.0. The color of the star also changes. Most of the time, Mu Cephei is a deep orange-red, but sometimes it takes on a strange purple hue.

Although Mu Cephei is a little dim, it is reddish tint can be seen even with the naked eye, and if you take simple binoculars, the sight will be more impressive.

Farthest space object

The farthest object visible to the naked eye is Andromeda galaxy, which includes about 400 billion stars and which was noticed back in the 10th century by the ancient Persian astronomer Al Sufi. He described the object as a "little cloud."

Even if you were armed with binoculars or an amateur telescope, Andromeda would still look like slightly elongated blurry spot. But it is still very impressive, especially if you know that the light from it reaches us in 2.5 million years!

By the way, the Andromeda galaxy is approaching our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers estimate that the two galaxies will merge at about in 4 billion years, and Andromeda will be visible as a bright disk in the night sky. However, it is not yet known whether there will still be people on Earth who want to look at the sky after so many years.

It is pleasant to look at the sky not only for complete romantics and meticulous scientists. Every person from time to time loves to observe one of the most beautiful phenomena of our universe - bright stars. And therefore, it will be interesting for everyone to find out which luminaries are distinguished by the greatest radiance.

Sirius

Without a doubt, the brightest star in the night sky is Sirius. She ranks first in terms of her radiance. It is located in the constellation Canis Major and is clearly visible in the Northern Hemisphere in winter. Residents of the Southern Hemisphere can see it in the summer months, north of the Arctic Circle. Sirius is located approximately 8.6 light years from the Sun and is one of the brightest stars closest to us.

The brilliance of Sirius is a consequence of the proximity of the star to the solar system. It is one of the favorite objects for observation among amateur astronomers. Sirius is equal to 1.46 m.

Sirius is the brightest northern star. Astronomers back in the 19th century noticed that its trajectory, although straight, was still subject to periodic fluctuations. Astronomers began to guess that a hidden star revolving around Sirius with a period of about 50 years was responsible for these trajectory deviations. 18 years after this bold assumption, a small star measuring 8.4 m, belonging to the category of white dwarfs, was found near Sirius.

Canopus

For the first time, the ancient Greek scientist Hipparchus began to think about what the brightest star in the sky was. Its classification was proposed 22 centuries ago. Hipparchus was the first to divide the luminaries according to their brilliance into 6 magnitudes. The two brightest - Sirius and Canopus - are minus first magnitude. Canopus is second in brightness after Sirius, but is much less known. Apparently, for the reason that it is best observed from the Southern Hemisphere. From the northern territories, Canopus is observed only in subtropical latitudes.

For example, in Europe it is visible only from the south of Greece, and in the countries of the former USSR only residents of Turkmenistan can admire it. Astronomers in Australia and New Zealand were the luckiest in this regard. Here Canopus can be observed throughout the year.

According to scientists, the luminosity of Canopus is 15,000 times higher than the sun, which is a huge indicator. This luminary played a big role in navigation.

Currently, Canopus is a white supergiant located at a considerable distance from Earth - about 310 light years, or 2.96 quadrillion kilometers.

Vega

Looking at the sky on warm summer evenings, you can see a bright bluish-white dot. This is Vega - one of the most visible only in the Northern Hemisphere.

Vega is not only the main one in the constellation Lyra. She is the main luminary throughout the summer months. It is very convenient to observe from the Northern Hemisphere due to its location. From the end of spring until mid-autumn, it is the most noticeable luminary.

As with many other stars, many ancient legends are associated with Vega. For example, in the Far East there is a legend that Vega is a princess who fell in love with a simple man (represented in the sky by the star Altair). The girl's father, having learned about this, became angry, forbidding her to see an ordinary mortal. And in fact, Vega is separated from Altair by the foggy Milky Way. Only once a year, according to legend, thousands of forty form a sky bridge with their wings, and lovers have the opportunity to reunite. Later, the princess's tears fall to the ground - this is how the legend explains the meteor shower from the Perseid shower.

Vega is 2 times heavier than the Sun. The luminosity of the star is 37 times greater than the sun. Vega has such a huge mass that it will exist in its current state as a white star for another 1 billion years.

Arcturus

It is one of the brightest stars that can be observed from almost anywhere on Earth. In intensity it is second only to Sirius, Canopus, and the double luminary Alpha Centauri. The star is 110 times brighter than the Sun. Located in

An unusual legend

Arcturus owes its name to the constellation Ursa Major. Translated from ancient Greek, the word “arcturus” means “guardian of the bear.” According to the myth, Zeus placed him in place so that he would guard the nymph Callisto, who was transformed by the goddess Hera into a bear. In Arabic, Arcturus is called differently - “Haris-as-sama”, which means “guardian of the heavens”.

In northern latitudes the star can be observed all year round.

Alpha Centauri

Another one of the brightest stars, known to astronomers since ancient times, is Alpha Centauri. It is part of However, in reality it is not one star - it includes three components: the luminary Centauri A (also known as Toliman), Centauri B and the red dwarf Proxima Centauri.

In terms of age, Alpha Centauri is 2 billion years older than our solar system - this group has been around for about 6 billion years, while the Sun is only 4.5. The characteristics of these luminaries are as close as possible.

If you look at Alpha Centauri without special equipment, it is impossible to distinguish star A from B - it is thanks to this union that the impressive radiance of the star is achieved. However, once you equip yourself with an ordinary telescope, the small distance between the two celestial bodies becomes noticeable. The light emitted by the stars reaches our planet in 4.3 years. It would take 1.1 million years for a modern spacecraft to reach Alpha Centauri, so this is unlikely to be possible in the near future. In summer, the star can be seen in Florida, Texas, and Mexico.

Betelgeuse

This star belongs to the category of red supergiants. The mass of Betelgeuse, or Alpha Orionis, is about 13-17 solar masses, and its radius is 1200 times the solar mass.

Betelgeuse is one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It is 530 light years away from Earth. Its luminosity is 140,000 times higher than that of the Sun.

This red supergiant is one of the largest and brightest stars today. If Betelgeuse were in the central part of the solar system, its surface would absorb several planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. It is assumed that Betelgeuse is only about 10 million years old. Now the star is at a late stage of its evolution, and scientists assume that in the next few million years it will explode and turn into a supernova.

Procyon

The star Procyon is one of the brightest stars. He is the alpha of Canis Minor. In reality, Procyon consists of two luminaries - the second is called Gomeiza. Both of them can be observed without additional optics. The origin of the name “Procyon” is also very interesting. It was based on long-term observation of the starry sky. This word is literally translated as “before the Dog,” and a more literary translation sounds like “the harbinger of the dog.” The Arab peoples called Procyon “Sirius, shedding tears.” All these names have a direct connection with Sirius, who was worshiped by many ancient peoples. It is not surprising that over time, astrologers and priests discovered a harbinger of Sirius appearing in the sky - Procyon. He appears in the sky 40 minutes earlier, as if he were running ahead. If you depict the constellation Canis Minor in the picture, it turns out that Procyon is in its hind legs.

The star is located very close to the Earth - of course, this distance can only be called small by cosmic standards. It is separated from us by 11.41 light years. It moves towards the solar system at a tremendous speed of 4500 m per second. Procyon shines like 8 of our Suns, and its radius is no less than 1.9 times the radius of our star.

Astronomers classify it as a subgiant star. Based on the brightness of the glow, scientists concluded that the nuclear reaction between hydrogen and helium in its depths no longer occurs. Scientists are convinced that the process of star expansion has already begun. After a very long time, Procyon will turn into a red giant.

Polaris is the brightest star in Ursa Ursa.

This light was very unusual. First of all, it is worth paying attention to the fact that it is closest to the planet’s north pole. And due to the daily rotation of the Earth, the stars move as if around the North Star. For this reason, it is often called Northern. As for the South Pole, there are no similar luminaries near it. In ancient times, the axis of the planet was directed to another sphere of the sky, and Vega took the place of the Northern Star.

Those who are interested in what is the brightest star in the sky, observed from the Northern Hemisphere, should know: Polaris cannot be called such. However, it is easy to find it if you extend the line connecting the two luminaries of the Ursa Major bucket. Polaris is the very last star in the handle of the bucket of this constellation's neighbor, Ursa Minor. The brightest star in this cluster is also this luminary.

The Big Dipper is also of interest to astronomers. It is easy to see thanks to the shape of the bucket, which is clearly visible in the sky. The brightest star in the constellation is Alioth. In reference books it is designated by the letter epsilon, and it ranks 31st in brightness among all visible bodies.

Nowadays, as in the days of ancient astronomers, an ordinary person can observe the stars from the surface of the earth. However, it is quite possible that our great-grandchildren will be able to go to the brightest luminaries and learn much more interesting and entertaining information about them.

>The brightest star in the sky

Sirius is the brightest star: the meaning of the name Alpha Canis Majoris, characteristics and description with photos, distance from Earth, detection, list of the brightest stars.

Among all the stars known to us, the brightest in the sky is Sirius, which is also called the “Dog Star”. The official name is Alpha Canis Major, located in the constellation of the same name.

Sirius is a binary system with a main sequence (A) star whose apparent magnitude reaches -1.46. It is 8.7 light years away from us and is closest to Earth.

In 1844, Friedrich Bessel noticed that the orbital path of Sirius A was a bit like a wave, which meant there might be a faint satellite nearby. This was confirmed by Alvan Clarke in 1862. We are talking about Sirius B - a white dwarf that can be seen in a large telescope (it has little effect on the overall brightness of the system).

But there are other stars near us, why is Sirius the brightest? The fact is that most stars belong to the category of red dwarfs. They are not only small, but also dim. In fact, the closest is the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri. This is an M-type, less than a G-type (Sun). The brightest is A-type (Sirius).

The starry sky can captivate you for a lifetime thanks to its bright lights. Even with the naked eye you can see that some objects shine brighter than others. Scientists measure the brightness of celestial bodies using a scale. The smaller the object itself, the brighter it will be.

List of the brightest stars in the sky

We know which star is the brightest for an observer on Earth. However, other bright celestial bodies can be found in space. You can admire the brightest stars in the sky and their “apparent magnitudes” (as they are seen towards the Earth). Use our online star map to find them yourself through a telescope.

Achernar

The star Achernar is located in the constellation Eridanus and is 69 light years away from us. The apparent value is 0.46, and the absolute value is -1.3.

Procyon is located 11.4 light years away in the constellation Canis Minor. The apparent value is 0.38, with an absolute value of 2.6.

Rigel is located 1,400 light years away and nestles in the constellation Orion. The apparent value is 0.12, and the absolute value reaches -8.1.

Capella is located in the constellation Auriga (41 light years). The apparent magnitude is 0.08, and the absolute magnitude is 0.4.

The star Vega is located in the constellation Lyra (25 light years). The apparent value is 0.03, and the absolute value is 0.6.

Arcturus is located in the constellation Bootes (34 light years). The apparent value is -0.04, and the absolute value is 0.2.

Alpha Centauri is the third brightest star in the entire sky. It is located in the Alpha Centauri system and is 4.3 light years away. The apparent value reaches -0.27, and the absolute value – 4.4.

The star Canopus is located in the constellation Carina (74 light years). The apparent value is -0.72, and the absolute value reaches -2.5.

Lives in the constellation Canis Major. It is 8.6 light years away from us. The apparent value is -1.46, and the absolute value is 1.4.

The Sun is the closest star to us, 93 million miles away. The apparent magnitude is -26.72, and the absolute value is 4.2.

If you ask any random person, almost everyone will answer - “”. This star is without a doubt very bright and the most popular, so most people think that it is popular precisely because it is the brightest. However, it is not. Polaris ranks only 42nd in brightness among the stars of the night sky.
Stars have different brightness and color. Each star has its own, to which it is attached from the moment of birth. When any star forms, the dominant element is hydrogen—the most abundant element in the Universe—and its fate is determined only by its mass. Stars with a mass of 8% of the mass of the Sun can ignite a nuclear fusion reaction in the core, fusing helium from hydrogen, and their energy gradually moves from the inside out and pours into the Universe. Low-mass stars, due to their low temperatures, are red, dim, and burn their fuel slowly—the longest-lived ones are destined to burn for trillions of years. But the more mass a star gains, the hotter its core, and the larger the region in which nuclear fusion occurs. Not surprisingly, the most massive and hot stars are also the brightest. The most massive and hot stars can be tens of thousands of times brighter than the Sun!

Which star is the brightest in the sky?

This is not as simple a question as it seems. It all depends on what you mean by the brightest star.
If we talk about the brightest star in the sky that we see- that's one thing. But if by brightness we mean the amount of light emitted by a star, then this is completely different. One star in the sky may be brighter than another simply because it is closer than larger and brighter stars.

When they talk about the brightest star in the sky

When talking about the brightest star in the sky, we must distinguish between the apparent and absolute brightness of the stars. They are usually called apparent and absolute magnitude, respectively.

Apparent magnitude is the degree of brightness of a star in the night sky when observed from Earth.
Absolute magnitude is the brightness of a star at a distance of 10 parsecs.

The lower the magnitude, the brighter the star.

is the brightest star in the night sky

The brightest star in the sky is undoubtedly Sirius. It shines and is clearly visible in the Northern Hemisphere during the winter months. The apparent magnitude of Sirius is -1.46 m. Sirius is 20 times brighter than the Sun and twice as massive. The star is located approximately 8.6 light years from the Sun and is one of the closest stars to us. Its brilliance is the result of its true brightness and its proximity to us.
Sirius is a double star, the brightest star in the night sky, which is part of the constellation Canis Major, is also called α Canis Major. A binary star is a system of two gravitationally bound stars revolving in closed orbits around a common center of mass. The second star, Sirius B, has a magnitude of 8.4, is slightly lighter than the Sun and is the first discovered, and also the most massive, discovered to date. The average distance between these stars is about 20 AU. e., which is comparable to the distance from the Sun to Uranus. The age of Sirius (according to calculations) is approximately 230 million years.
Sirius A will exist on the main sequence for about another 660 million years, after which it will become a red giant and then shed its outer shell and become a white dwarf. Consequently, the estimated life cycle of Sirius A could be about 1 billion years.

List of the brightest stars

Distance: 0.0000158 light years
Apparent magnitude: −26,72
Absolute magnitude: 4,8

Sirius (α Canis Majoris)

Distance: 8.6 light years
Apparent magnitude: −1,46
Absolute magnitude: 1,4

Canopus (α Carinae)

Distance: 310 light years
Apparent magnitude: −0,72
Absolute magnitude: −5,53

Toliman (α Centauri)

Distance: 4.3 light years
Apparent magnitude: −0,27
Absolute magnitude: 4,06

Arcturus (α Bootes)

Distance: 36.7 light years
Apparent magnitude: −0,05
Absolute magnitude: −0,3