LIST OF BRIGHTEST STARS

'Bright stars' are bright because they have high luminosities and/or they are nearby. Below are the 90 brightest individual stars as seen from Earth in visible wavelengths (apparent magnitude less than or equal to +2.50). The number of observable stars increases rapidly as the magnitude increases[1], so a lengthier list would be long indeed. The sky has been mapped almost completely up to +11 in visible wavelengths, and continuing surveys are cataloging even much fainter objects.
The exact order of this list is not completely well-defined because of the following reasons:

★ Multiple stars are listed individually here when the magnitude difference between them is less than five (some other lists report the brightness of all the component stars combined).

★ There are statistical variations in measured values.

★ Some stars are actually variable stars (as indicated with var).

	V Magnitude	Bayer Designation	Proper name	Distance (ly)	External link
0	−26.73		Sun	0.000 016
1	−1.47	α CMa	Sirius	8.6	Sirius on SIMBAD.
2	−0.72	α Car	Canopus	310	Canopus on SIMBAD.
3	−0.04 var	α Boo	Arcturus	37	Arcturus on SIMBAD.
4	−0.01	α1 Cen	Alpha Centauri A	4.4	Alpha Centauri A on SIMBAD.
5	0.03	α Lyr	Vega	25	Vega on SIMBAD.
6	0.12	β Ori	Rigel	770	Rigel on SIMBAD.
7	0.34	α CMi	Procyon	11	Procyon on SIMBAD.
8	0.50	α Eri	Achernar	140	Achernar on SIMBAD.
9	0.58 var	α Ori	Betelgeuse	430	Betelgeuse on SIMBAD.
10	0.60	β Cen	Hadar (Agena)	530	Hadar (Agena) on SIMBAD.
11	0.71	α1 Aur	Capella A	42	Capella A on SIMBAD.
12	0.77	α Aql	Altair	17	Altair on SIMBAD.
13	0.85 var	α Tau	Aldebaran	65	Aldebaran on SIMBAD.
14	0.96	α2 Aur	Capella B	42	Capella B on SIMBAD.
15	1.04	α Vir	Spica	260	Spica on SIMBAD.
16	1.09	α Sco	Antares	600	Antares on SIMBAD.
17	1.15	β Gem	Pollux	34	Pollux on SIMBAD.
18	1.16	α PsA	Fomalhaut	25	Fomalhaut on SIMBAD.
19	1.25	α Cyg	Deneb	3200	Deneb on SIMBAD.
20	1.30	β Cru	Becrux	350	Becrux on SIMBAD.
21	1.33	α2 Cen	Alpha Centauri B	4.4	Alpha Centauri B on SIMBAD.
22	1.35	α Leo	Regulus	77	Regulus on SIMBAD.
23	1.40	α1 Cru	Acrux A	320	★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>+Alf01+Cru&NbIdent=1&Radius=10&Radius.unit=arcmin&CooFrame=FK5&CooEpoch=2000&CooEqui=2000&output.max=all&o.catall=on&output.mesdisp=N&Bibyear1=1983&Bibyear2=2005&Frame1=FK5&Frame2=FK4&Frame3=G&Equi1=2000.0&Equi2=1950.0&Equi3=2000.0&Epoch1=2000.0&Epoch2=1950.0&Epoch3=2000.0 Acrux A on SIMBAD.
24	1.51	ε CMa	Adara	430	Adara on SIMBAD.
25	1.62	λ Sco	Shaula	700	Shaula on SIMBAD.
26	1.63	γ Cru	Gacrux	88	Gacrux on SIMBAD.
27	1.64	γ Ori	Bellatrix	240	Bellatrix on SIMBAD.
28	1.68	β Tau	El Nath	130	El Nath on SIMBAD.
29	1.70	β Car	Miaplacidus	110	Miaplacidus on SIMBAD.
30	1.70	ε Ori	Alnilam	1300	Alnilam on SIMBAD.
31	1.70	ζ1 Ori	Alnitak A	820	Alnitak A on SIMBAD.
32	1.74	α Gru	Al Na'ir	100	Al Na'ir on SIMBAD.
33	1.76	ε UMa	Alioth	81	Alioth on SIMBAD.
34	1.78	γ12 Vel	Gamma2 Velorum A	840	Gamma2 Velorum on SIMBAD.
35	1.80	ε Sgr	Kaus Australis	140	Kaus Australis on SIMBAD.
36	1.82	α Per	Mirfak	590	Mirfak on SIMBAD.
37	1.84	δ CMa	Wezen	1800	Wezen on SIMBAD.
38	1.85	η UMa	Benetnasch (Alkaid)	100	Benetnasch (Alkaid) on SIMBAD.
39	1.86	θ Sco	Sargas	270	Sargas on SIMBAD.
40	1.87	α1 UMa	Dubhe A	120	Dubhe on SIMBAD.
41	1.90	γ Gem	Alhena	100	Alhena on SIMBAD.
42	1.91	α Pav	Peacock	180	Peacock on SIMBAD.
43	1.92	α TrA	Atria	420	Atria on SIMBAD.
44	1.96	α1 Gem	Castor A	52	Castor A on SIMBAD.
45	1.98	β CMa	Murzim	500	Murzim on SIMBAD.
46	2.00	α Hya	Alphard	180	Alphard on SIMBAD.
47	2.00	α Ari	Hamal	66	Hamal on SIMBAD.
48	2.01 var	α UMi	Polaris	430	Polaris on SIMBAD.
49	2.03	δ1 Vel	Delta Velorum A	80	Delta Velorum on SIMBAD.
50	2.04	β Cet	Deneb Kaitos	96	Deneb Kaitos on SIMBAD.
51	2.05	κ Ori	Saiph	720	Saiph on SIMBAD.
52	2.06	σ Sgr	Nunki	220	Nunki on SIMBAD.
53	2.06	θ Cen	Menkent	61	Menkent on SIMBAD.
54	2.06	α And	Alpheratz	97	Alpheratz on SIMBAD.
55	2.06	β And	Mirach	200	Mirach on SIMBAD.
56	2.08	β UMi	Kochab	130	Kochab on SIMBAD.
57	2.09	α2 Cru	Acrux B	320	★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>+Alf02+Cru&NbIdent=1&Radius=10&Radius.unit=arcmin&CooFrame=FK5&CooEpoch=2000&CooEqui=2000&output.max=all&o.catall=on&output.mesdisp=N&Bibyear1=1983&Bibyear2=2005&Frame1=FK5&Frame2=FK4&Frame3=G&Equi1=2000.0&Equi2=1950.0&Equi3=2000.0&Epoch1=2000.0&Epoch2=1950.0&Epoch3=2000.0 Acrux B on SIMBAD.
58	2.10	α Oph	Ras Alhague	47	Ras Alhague on SIMBAD.
59	2.12 var	β Per	Algol	93	Algol on SIMBAD.
60	2.13	β Gru	Beta Gruis	170	Beta Gruis on SIMBAD.
61	2.14	β Leo	Denebola	36	Denebola on SIMBAD.
62	2.21	ζ Pup	Naos	1400	Zeta Puppis on SIMBAD.
63	2.23	λ Vel	Lambda Velorum	570	Lambda Velorum on SIMBAD.
64	2.23	γ Dra	Etamin	150	Etamin on SIMBAD.
65	2.24	α1 CrB	Gemma A / Alphecca A	75	Alphecca on SIMBAD.
66	2.24	γ Cyg	Sadr	1500	Sadr on SIMBAD.
67	2.25	α Cas	Schedar	230	Schedar on SIMBAD.
68	2.25	ι Car	Aspidiske	690	Aspidiske on SIMBAD.
69	2.26	γ1 And	Almach A	350	Almach on SIMBAD.
70	2.27	ζ1 UMa	Mizar A	78	Mizar A on SIMBAD.
71	2.27	β Cas	Caph	54	Caph on SIMBAD.
72	2.27	ε Cen	Epsilon Centauri	380	Epsilon Centauri on SIMBAD.
73	2.28	γ1 Leo	Algieba A	130	Algieba on SIMBAD.
74	2.28	α Lup	Alpha Lupi	550	Alpha Lupi on SIMBAD.
75	2.29	δ Sco	Dschubba	400	Dschubba on SIMBAD.
76	2.29	ε Sco	Wei	65	Wei on SIMBAD.
77	2.32	η Cen	Eta Centauri	310	Eta Centauri on SIMBAD.
78	2.35	β UMa	Merak	79	Merak on SIMBAD.
79	2.37	α Phe	Ankaa	77	Ankaa on SIMBAD.
80	2.38	κ Sco	Girtab	460	Girtab on SIMBAD.
81	2.39	γ Cas	Gamma Cassiopeiae	610	Gamma Cassiopeiae on SIMBAD.
82	2.40	ε Peg	Enif	670	Enif on SIMBAD.
83	2.40	η CMa	Aludra	3200	Aludra on SIMBAD.
84	2.4	ε1 Car	Avior A	630	Avior on SIMBAD.
85	2.42	β Peg	Scheat	200	Scheat on SIMBAD.
86	2.43	γ UMa	Phecda	84	Phecda on SIMBAD.
87	2.44	α Cep	Alderamin	49	Alderamin on SIMBAD.
88	2.46	κ Vel	Kappa Velorum	540	Kappa Velorum on SIMBAD.
89	2.49	α Peg	Markab	140	Markab on SIMBAD.
90	2.50	ε Cyg	Gienah	72	Gienah on SIMBAD.

Contents

See also

External links

See also

★ Lists of stars

★ List of nearest stars

★ List of most luminous stars

External links

★ 26 Brightest Stars, as Seen from the Earth

★ Bright Stars Worth Knowing

★ The Brightest Stars at An Atlas of the Universe

★ Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand Brighest List

★ The Magnitude system

★ About stellar magnitudes