List of brightest stars

Contents

By apparent magnitude

Below the 100 Brightest stars as seen from Earth (by apparent magnitude at visible wavelengths) according to the Hipparcos sky survey. The exact order of this list is not completely well defined:

Double stars here are sometimes treated individually, while other lists may combine their brightness.
Statistical variations in measured values.
Some stars are actually variable stars and are indicated with var.

	Magnitude	Bayer Designation	Proper name	distance (ly)
0	−26.73		The Sun	0.000 016
1	−1.44	α CMa	Sirius	8.61
2	−0.62	α Car	Canopus	312.73
3	−0.05 var	α Boo	Arcturus	36.69
4	−0.01	α₁ Cen	Alpha Centauri-A	4.40
5	0.03	α Lyr	Vega	25.31
6	0.08	α Aur	Capella	42.21
7	0.18	β Ori	Rigel	772.91
8	0.4	α Cmi	Procyon	11.42
9	0.45	α Eri	Achernar	143.81
10	0.45 var	α Ori	Betelgeuse	427.47
11	0.61	β Cen	Hadar	525.22
12	0.76	α Aql	Altair	16.76
13	0.77	α Cru	Acrux	320.72
14	0.87 var	α Tau	Aldebaran	65.10
15	0.98	α Vir	Spica	262.20
16	1.06	α Sco	Antares	604.02
17	1.16	β Gem	Pollux	33.73
18	1.17	α PsA	Fomalhaut	25.08
19	1.25	β Cru	Becrux	352.62
20	1.25	α Cyg	Deneb	3229.35
21	1.35	α₂ Cen	Alpha Centauri-B	4.40
22	1.36	α Leo	Regulus	77.50
23	1.5	ε CMa	Adhara	430.86
24	1.58	α Gem	Castor	51.57
25	1.59	γ Cru	Gacrux	87.93
26	1.62	λ Sco	Shaula	702.95
27	1.64	γ Ori	Bellatrix	243.06
28	1.65	β Tau	El Nath	131.05
29	1.67	β Car	Miaplacidus	111.16
30	1.69	ε Ori	Alnilam	1342.23
31	1.73	α Gru	Al Na'ir	101.40
32	1.74	ζ Ori	Alnitak	817.46
33	1.75	γ Vel	Al Suhail	840.62
34	1.76	ε UMa	Alioth	80.92
35	1.79	γ Peg	Algenib	591.95
36	1.79	ε Sgr	Kaus Australis	144.65
37	1.81	α UMa	Dubhe	123.65
38	1.83	δ CMa	Wezen	1792.11
39	1.85	η UMa	Alkaid	100.69
40	1.86	ε Car	Avior	632.11
41	1.86	θ Sco	Sargas	272.02
42	1.9	β Aur	Menkalinan	82.13
43	1.91	α TrA	Atria	415.50
44	1.93	γ Gem	Alhena	104.80
45	1.93	δ Vel	Delta Velorum	79.75
46	1.94	α Pav	Peacock	183.24
47	1.97 var	α UMi	Polaris	431.45
48	1.98	β CMa	Murzim	499.49
49	1.99	α Hya	Alphard	177.27
50	2.01	α Ari	Hamal	65.92
51	2.01	γ Leo	Algieba	125.64
52	2.04	β Cet	Deneb Kaitos	95.83
53	2.05	σ Sgr	Nunki	224.34
54	2.06	θ Cen	Menkent	60.93
55	2.07	α And	Alpheratz	97.07
56	2.07	κ Ori	Saiph	2104.28
57	2.07	β And	Mirach	199.35
58	2.07	β UMi	Kochab	126.45
59	2.07	β Gru	Beta Gruis	170.13
60	2.08	α Oph	Ras Alhague	46.71
61	2.09 var	β Per	Algol	92.83
62	2.1	γ And	Alamach	354.90
63	2.14	β Leo	Denebola	36.17
64	2.15	γ Cas	Gamma Cassiopeiae	613.09
65	2.2	γ Cen	Gamma Centauri	130.40
66	2.21	ζ Pup	Naos	1399.83
67	2.21	ι Car	Aspidiske	692.48
68	2.22	α CrB	Gemma	74.72
69	2.23	λ Vel	Lambda Velorum	573.23
70	2.23	ζ UMa	Mizar	78.15
71	2.23	γ Cyg	Sadr	1524.13
72	2.24	α Cas	Schedar	228.58
73	2.24	γ Dra	Eltanin	147.59
74	2.25	δ Ori	Mintaka	916.19
75	2.28	β Cas	Caph	54.47
76	2.29	ε Cen	Epsilon Centauri	375.77
77	2.29	δ Sco	Dschubba	401.67
78	2.29	ε Sco	Wei	65.43
79	2.3	α Lup	Alpha Lupi	548.18
80	2.33	η Cen	Eta Centauri	308.58
81	2.34	β UMa	Merak	79.42
82	2.35	ε Boo	Izar	209.76
83	2.38	ε Peg	Enif	672.52
84	2.39	κ Sco	Girtab	463.97
85	2.4	α Phe	Ankaa	77.43
86	2.41	γ UMa	Phecda	83.66
87	2.43	η Oph	Sabik	84.12
88	2.44	β Peg	Scheat	199.25
89	2.45	α Cep	Alderamin	48.79
90	2.45	η CMa	Aludra	3197.68
91	2.47	κ Vel	Kappa Velorum	539.12
92	2.48	ε Cyg	Gienah	72.05
93	2.49	α Peg	Markab	139.63
94	2.54	α Cet	Menkar	220.10
95	2.54	ζ Oph	Zeta Ophiuchi	458.10
96	2.55	ζ Cen	Zeta Centauri	384.61
97	2.56	δ Leo	Zosma	57.70
98	2.56	β Sco	Acrab	530.34
99	2.58	α Lep	Arneb	1284.11
100	2.58	δ Cen	Delta Centauri	395.34

By absolute magnitude

Below is a list of the most luminous stars by absolute magnitude. The absolute magnitude is a measure of the star's luminosity – the total amount of visible energy radiated by a star every second, as it would be at a standard distance of 10 parsecs away from the star itself). The exact order of this list is not yet complete, nor is it completely well defined:

Double stars here are sometimes treated individually, while other lists may combine their brightness.
Statistical variations in measured values.
Some stars are actually variable stars.

Star name	Apparent Magnitude	Absolute Magnitude	Luminosity in Solar Units
Sun (as reference)	-26.8	4.8	1
LBV 1806-20			40,000,000
The Pistol Star		-13.2	6,000,000
Cyg OB2-12		-12.2
HD 93129A		-12.1
Eta Carinae	3,9 to 10,5	-12.1	4,000,000
QPM-241		-11.9
HDE 319718		-11.8
Rho Cassiopeiae	4.4	-9.6	550,000
Deneb	1.25	-8.73	135,000
Rigel	0.12	-8.1	100,000
Aludra	2.45	-7.51	85,000
Betelgeuse	0.41	-7.2	80,000
Wezen (Delta Canis Majoris)	1.83	-6.87	50,000
Omicron Canis Majoris	3.02	-6.46
Alnilam	1.69	-6.38	23,000
Sadr	2.23	-6.12
Naos	2.21	-5.95
Almaaz	3.03	-5.95
Iota Scorpii	2.99	-5.71
Eta Leonis	3.48	-5.60
Upsilon Carinae	2.92	-5.56
Canopus	-0.62	-5.53
Hadar (Beta Centauri)	0.61	-5.42
Arneb	2.58	-5.40
Phi Velorum	3.52	-5.34
Regor	1.75	-5.31
Hatysa (Iota Orionis)	2.75	-5.30
Antares	0.92	-5.28	10,700
Alnitak	1.74	-5.26	10,500
Beta Crucis	1.25	-5.2	10,000
Shaula	1.62	-5.05
Mintaka (Delta Orionis)	2.25	-4.99
Pi Puppis	2.71	-4.92
Adhara	1.50	-4.8
Xi Puppis	3.34	-4.74
Becrux	1.20	-4.7
Saiph	2.07	-4.65
Acrux	0.76	-4.6	3960
Avior (Epsilon Carinae)	1.86	-4.58
Spica	1.00	-3.55	2180
Shaula	1.60	-3.5	2100
Achernar	0.46	-1.3	910
Gacrux	1.63	-1.2
Aldebaran	0.85	-0.63	149
Regulus	1.35	-0.52	134.2
Arcturus	-0.04	-0.31	114
Capella	0.08	0.4	76
Castor	1.98	0.5	58
Vega	0.00	0.58	50.1
Pollux	1.14	0.7	30.5
Sirius	-1.46	1.4	23

Other objects

One might note that even the brightest star, at a luminosity of 40 million suns, it is still not the brightest object in the universe.
This honor belongs to a several hundred Quasars that are currently known to us.
The currently brightest known quasar is the ultraluminous 3C 273 in the constellation of Virgo. It has an average apparent magnitude of 12.8 (when observing with a telescope), but it has an an absolute magnitude of -26.7!
So from a distance of 10 parsecs, this object would shine brighter than our sun (4.8^m)! This quasar's luminosity is, therefore, about 2 trillion (10^12) times that of our sun, or about 100 times that of the total light of average giant galaxies like our Milky Way!
Quasars however, are also found to vary in luminosity in differing time periods.

In terms of gamma rays, a Magnetar (type of neutron star) called SGR 1806-20, had a extreme burst on 27 December 2004.
In fact, it was the brightest event known to have impacted this planet from an origin outside our solar system.
If these gamma rays would be visible, with an absolute magnitude of approx. −29, it would be brighter than our sun (as measured by the Swift spacecraft).

The Gamma-ray burst GRB 971214 in 1998 has been found to be most energetic event in the universe. It had the equivalent energy of several hundred supernovae. "For about one or two seconds, this burst was as luminous as all the rest of the entire universe". "In a region about a hundred miles across, the burst created conditions like those in the early universe, about one millisecond (1/1000th of a second) after the Big Bang", according to professor George Djorgovski. [1] (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/1998/17/text/)

References

Observer's Handbook, 1991, The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, From "The Brightest Stars" list

External links

26 Brightest Stars, as Seen from the Earth (http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/brightest.html)
Bright Stars Worth Knowing (http://www.johnpratt.com/items/astronomy/bright_stars.html)
About the top 7 stars (http://www.tim-thompson.com/bright-stars.html)
About LBV 1806-20 (http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=13334)
List of the 314 brightest stars (Hipparcos catalogue) (http://anzwers.org/free/universe/stars.html)
Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand Brighest List (http://www.faster.co.nz/~rasnz/Stars/BrightStars.htm)
The Magnitude system (http://www.astronomynotes.com/starprop/s4.htm)
About stellar magnitudes (http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/stars/magnitudes.html)fa:فهرست درخشان‌ترین ستاره‌ها

fr:Liste des étoiles les plus brillantes it:Lista delle stelle più luminose nl:Lijst van helderste sterren ja:明るい恒星の一覧 pl:Najjaśniejsze gwiazdy ru:Список самых ярких звёзд zh:恆星亮度列表

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Categories: Stars | Lists of stars

List of brightest stars

By apparent magnitude

By absolute magnitude

Other objects

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References

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