How many astronomy facts are there for all the objects and phenomenon in the entire universe? Consider that there are somewhere around 1 x 10 ^22 stars in the universe, that’s a one followed by 22 zeros. Then consider that many of those stars have planets surrounding them. Then consider the moons that surround the planets, the asteroids, the nebula, the galaxies, and all the other stuff the universe contains. The number of facts and amount of data is staggering. This article, which presents astronomy facts, certainly won’t contain every astronomy fact. But these are interesting facts.
Let’s take a look at this subset of astronomy facts – the brightest stars as seen from Earth. Let’s ignore the sun, it’s too close. The sun is so bright that it washes out all of the other stars in the daylight sky. Keep in mind that in the scale for the magnitudes given, lower numbers are brighter. The son is approximately 26.73, with the full moon weighing in at -12.6. With that in mind, here are the top 5.
#5 is Vega, which means eagle or vulture in Arabic. It’s about 25 light years away from the Earth, with a magnitude of .03. Overall, for this discussion of astronomy facts, the truly brightest star may not appear to be so from her. The Sun is not the largest or brightest star in the universe or even the galaxy, yet it appears so bright because it is so near compared to other stars.
#4 goes to Rigel Kentaurus, or foot of the centaur. It’s about four light years from Earth with a magnitude of -.01.
At #3, remember this is set in stone as one of the many astronomy facts we have, is Arcturus. In Greek that means guardian of the bear. This star is 37 light years from us.
Canopus comes in at #2. Named for the pilots of Jason’s vessel in Jason and the Argonauts, this star is the brightest of all of these top five. However, it’s 313 light-years away from Earth, so it looks second brightest as seen from this planet. It has a -.62 magnitude as seen by humans on this planet.
#1 is Sirius, meaning scorching in Greek. Because it’s the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, it’s also called the Dog Star. It’s only 9 light years from Earth. That’s second closest of these top five. But from Earth it has a magnitude of -1.44. That makes it easily the brightest star as seen in the night sky.
This information doesn’t even scratch the surface of astronomy facts. But it’s something to consider next time you look into the sky.
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