Astronomy Facts
There must be a lot of astronomy facts right? To count the stars in the universe we need a one followed by 22 zeros. Then consider that many of those stars have planets surrounding them. Now think about all the moons that orbit the planets, and the comets, and the asteroids, and everything else in the universe. That’s a lot of data and facts and figures. This short discussion won’t cover everything. But it will be a lot of fun.
The data on the brightest star as seen from Earth are good astronomy facts. The son, about 250,000 times closer than the next star, isn’t counted here. We get so much light from the sun that when it shines none of the other stars can be seen. For the purposes of this discussion, lower numbers for brightness mean a brighter star. The son is approximately 26.73, with the full moon weighing in at -12.6. And now to the top five.
#5 goes to Vega, Arabic for vulture. As seen from Earth its magnitude is .03. When looking at these astronomy facts remember that brightest from Earth doesn’t mean largest or brightest. The sun is only a moderately bright star, but because of its proximity to the Earth it appears to be so bright.
#4 goes to Rigel Kentaurus, or foot of the centaur. It sits about 4 light-years from Earth and has a magnitude of -.01.
At #3, remember this is set in stone as one of the many astronomy facts we have, is Arcturus. That’s the Greek word for Guardian on the bear. This star is 37 light years from us.
#2 is Canopus. Of these top five Canopus, a Greek name for the pilot of the vessel Argo made famous in the stories about Jason and the Argonauts, is the brightest. However, it’s 313 light-years away from Earth, so it looks second brightest as seen from this planet. -.62 is its magnitude is seen from the planet Earth.
#1 is Sirius, meaning scorching in Greek. Sirius is also known as the Dog Star because it’s the brightest star in the constellation of Big Dog. It’s only 9 light years from Earth. That’s second closest of these top five. It’s appears to be the brightest star in the sky, with a magnitude of -1.44.
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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