Star
Sirius
Binary · A1V main-sequence + white dwarf
Sirius A is about twice the Sun's mass and 25 times as luminous. It owes its brilliance partly to being close — just 8.6 light-years away. Its faint companion, Sirius B, was the first white dwarf ever identified.
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
8.6 light-years
Apparent mag.
−1.46
Luminosity
~25 × Sun
Mass
~2.06 × Sun
Temperature
~9,940 K
Spectral type
A1V
True colour from its B–V index (0.00): a surface around 10100 K.
Did you know
- Ancient Egyptians tied its pre-dawn rising to the Nile flood.
- Sirius B packs about the Sun's mass into a body the size of Earth.
- Sirius is gradually moving closer to the solar system.
