Sirius

Famous Stars

Sirius

I chose famous stars to research next because I am very interested in learning about the stars I’ve seen every night, but never knew anything about.

Sirius is known as the Dog Star, as it is the brightest star in Canis Major (the “Big Dog”). Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek word, “Seirios”, which means “Glowing” or “Scorcher”. It is the brightest star to the naked eye, It is actually a binary star system of a white main sequence star and a faint white dwarf companion. In ancient Egypt it signaled the flooding of the Nile. The Greeks believed the rising of Sirius marked the “dog days of summer”. In the southern hemisphere, Polynesians marked it as the approach of winter. It was an important star for navigation in the
Pacific Ocean.

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Star: Sirius ( the Dog Star // α CMa)

Chemical Components: An abundance of hydrogen

                   

Spectrum Analysis (of most abundant component: Hydrogen):

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Location: Right Ascension-  06h 45m 08.91728s

                 Declination- −16° 42′ 58.0171″

Stellar Classification: A1V

      White main sequence star

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References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius

http://www.astronoo.com/en/stars.html

http://www.universetoday.com/45775/famous-stars/

http://www.astronoo.com/en/brightest-stars.html