The 25 brightest stars
Star
Name
RA
h m
dec
° ’
Apparent
magnitude
Spectral type
Parallax
”
Distance
l.y.
Absolute
magnitude
a
Sun
—
—
–
26.78
G2V
—
—
0
4.82
Alpha Canis Majoris
Sirius
06 45.2
–
16 43
–
1.44
A1V
0.37921
000
8.60
0
1.45
Alpha Carinae
Canopus
06 24.0
–
52 42
–
0.62
F0II
0.01043
0
313
–
5.53
Alpha Centauri
Rigil Kentaurus
14 39.7
–
60 50
–
0.28
b
G2V
+
K1V
0.74212
000
4.39
0
4.07
b
Alpha Bootis
Arcturus
14 15.7
+
19 11
–
0.05
K1.5III
0.08885
00
36.71
–
0.31
Alpha Lyrae
Vega
18 36.9
+
38 47
00
0.03 (var.)
A0V
0.12892
00
25.30
0
0.58
Alpha Aurigae
Capella
05 16.7
+
46 00
00
0.08
G8III
+
G0III
0.07729
00
42.20
–
0.48
Beta Orionis
Rigel
05 14.5
–
08 12
00
0.18 (var.)
B8Iab
0.00422
0
773
–
6.69
Alpha Canis Minoris
Procyon
07 39.3
+
05 14
00
0.40
F5IV–V
0.28593
00
11.41
0
2.68
Alpha Eridani
Achernar
01 37.7
–
57 14
00
0.45
B3Vpe
0.02268
0
144
–
2.77
Alpha Orionis
Betelgeuse
05 55.2
+
07 24
00
0.45 (var.)
M2Iab
0.00763
0
427
–
5.14
Beta Centauri
Hadar
14 03.8
–
60 22
00
0.61 (var.)
B1III
0.00621
0
525
–
5.42
Alpha Aquilae
Altair
19 50.8
+
08 52
00
0.76 (var.)
A7V
0.19444
00
16.77
0
2.20
Alpha Crucis
Acrux
12 26.6
–
63 06
00
0.77
b
B0.5IV
+
B1V
0.01017
0
321
–
4.19
b
Alpha Tauri
Aldebaran
04 35.9
+
16 31
00
0.87
K5III
0.05009
00
65.11
–
0.63
Alpha Virginis
Spica
13 25.2
–
11 10
00
0.98 (var.)
B1III–IV + B2V
0.01244
0
262
–
3.55
Alpha Scorpii
Antares
16 29.4
–
26 26
00
1.05 (var.)
M1.5Iab–b
+
B2.5V
0.00540
0
604
–
5.29
Beta Geminorum
Pollux
07 45.3
+
28 02
00
1.16
K0IIIb
0.09674
00
33.72
0
1.09
Alpha Piscis Austrini
Fomalhaut
22 57.6
–
29 37
00
1.16
A3V
0.13008
00
25.07
0
1.73
Beta Crucis
Mimosa
12 47.7
–
59 41
00
1.25 (var.)
B0.5III
0.00925
0
353
–
3.92
Alpha Cygni
Deneb
20 41.4
+
45 17
00
1.25 (var.)
A2Iae
0.00101
3230
–
8.73
Alpha Leonis
Regulus
10 08.4
+
11 58
00
1.36
B7V
0.04209
00
77.49
–
0.52
Epsilon Canis Majoris
Adhara
06 58.6
–
28 58
00
1.50
B2Iab
0.00757
0
431
–
4.10
Alpha Geminorum
Castor
07 34.6
+
31 53
00
1.58
b
A2Vm
0.06327
00
51.55
0
0.59
b
Gamma Crucis
Gacrux
12 31.2
–
57 07
00
1.59
M3.5III
0.03709
00
87.94
–
0.56
Lambda Scorpii
Shaula
17 33.6
–
37 06
00
1.62 (var.)
B2IV
+
B2V
0.00464
0
703
–
5.05
a
Ignoring interstellar absorption
b
Combined magnitude of double star. For the individual components of Alpha Cen, see
Nearest stars
.
Sources:
Hipparcos Catalogue
; spectral types from the
SIMBAD
database.
See also
list of Brightest Stars in the Hipparcos Catalogue
.
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