The 20 Brightest Stars as Seen from Earth


The following is a table of the 20 brightest stars in the sky besides our own sun. You'll probably recognize most of the names of these historic and popular stars.

Luminosity Classes | 20 Closest Stars | Stellar Distances | Spectral Classes | Magnitude

Rank Star Apparent
Visible
Magnitude
M(v)
Absolute
Visible
Magnitude
M(v)
Spectral
Class
Luminosity
Class
Distance
pc
1 Sirus -1.45 +1.41 A1 V 2.7
2 Canopus -0.73 +0.16 F0 Ib 60
3 Rigel Kent -0.10 +4.3 G2 V 1.33
4 Arcturus -0.06 -0.2 K2 p III 11
5 Vega 0.04 +0.5 A0 V 8.1
6 Capella 0.08 -0.6 G8 . 14
7 Rigel 0.11 -7.0 B8 Ia 250
8 Procyon 0.35 +2.65 F5 IV 3.5
9 Achernar 0.48 -2.2 B5 IV 39
10 Hadar 0.60 -5.0 B1 II 120
11 Altair 0.77 +2.3 A7 V 5.0
12 Betelgeuse 0.80 -6.0 M2 I 200
13 Aldebaran 0.85 -0.7 K5 III 21
14 Acrux 0.9 -3.50 B2 IV 80
15 Spica 0.96 -3.4 B1 V 80
16 Antares 1.0 -4.7 M1 Ib 130
17 Pollux 1.15 +0.95 K0 III 11
18 Fomalhaut 1.16 +0.08 A3 V 7.0
19 Deneb 1.25 -7.3 A2 Ia 500
20 Mimosa 1.26 -4.7 B0 III 150