Dog Star

E712260

The Dog Star is the brightest star in the night sky, located in the constellation Canis Major and forming part of the prominent winter sky in the Northern Hemisphere.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Dog Star canonical 5

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf star
age_years about 2.4×10^8 years
alsoKnownAs Alpha Canis Majoris
Canicula
Sirius
Sothis
α Canis Majoris
linked to: Alpha Canis Majoris
apparentMagnitude −1.46
BayerDesignation α Canis Majoris
linked to: Alpha Canis Majoris
brightnessRank brightest star in the night sky
colorIndexB−V +0.00
constellation Canis Major
culturalAssociation Dog Days of summer
Egyptian calendar star Sothis
linked to: Sothis
declination_J2000 −16° 42′ 58″
distanceFromEarth_ly about 8.6 light‑years
distanceFromEarth_pc about 2.64 parsecs
effectiveTemperature_K about 9940 K
FlamsteedDesignation 9 Canis Majoris
galacticLatitude_deg about −8.89
galacticLongitude_deg about 227.23
hasCompanion white dwarf Sirius B
hemisphereVisibility visible from both Northern and Southern Hemispheres
hostConstellationTranslation Greater Dog
IAUName Sirius
luminosityRelativeToSun about 25 times solar luminosity
massRelativeToSun about 2.0 solar masses
notableProperty exhibits significant proper motion
one of the nearest bright stars to Earth
observedSinceAntiquity true
orbitalPeriod_years about 50.1 years
parallax_mas about 379.21 milliarcseconds
primaryComponent Sirius A
linked to: Sirius
properMotionDec_masPerYear −1223.08
properMotionRA_masPerYear −546.01
radialVelocity_kmPerSec about −5.5
radiusRelativeToSun about 1.7 solar radii
rightAscension_J2000 06h 45m 08.9s
seasonalProminence prominent in the winter sky of the Northern Hemisphere
secondaryComponent Sirius B
linked to: Sirius
SiriusA_instanceOf main‑sequence star
SiriusA_spectralType A1V
SiriusB_instanceOf white dwarf
SiriusB_spectralType DA2
spectralType A1V
systemType binary star system
visibleToNakedEye true

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Sirius alsoKnownAs Dog Star
Canicula alsoKnownAs Dog Star
HD 48915 alsoKnownAs Dog Star
Gliese 244 alsoKnownAs Dog Star