Although the star is named after the famous American astronomer E.E. Barnard, he did not discover it. The star first appeared on plates taken by Harvard University in 1888 and 1898, but in 1916, Barnard …
Despite its “beta” designation, Beta Librae is the brightest star in the constellation Libra, with an apparent magnitude of +2.6. However, the debate about its true brightness dates back to antiquity; Eratosthenes (276-194 BC) was …
Castor (Alpha Geminorum) is the “other” star that marks out the “heads” of the Heavenly Twins in the constellation Gemini, the other being Pollux (Beta Geminorum). Even though Castor is the least luminous of the …
If you were to look up at the position of the stars on any particular day of the year from the same location on Earth and compared them to the same day a year earlier, …
Acrux (Alpha Crucis) is the brightest star in the constellation Crux, the 13th most luminous star in the entire night sky, and also the southernmost of all first-magnitude stars. However, Acrux is actually a multiple …
Mimosa (Beta Crucis) is the second most luminous star in the Southern Cross asterism that defines the constellation Crux, and the 20th most luminous star in the entire night sky. It is also a spectroscopic …
Fomalhaut (Alpha Piscis Austrini) is the most luminous star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus (Southern Fish), and the 18th brightest in the entire night sky. Like the star Vega, Fomalhaut emits an excess of infrared …
Deneb (Alpha Cygni) is the most luminous star in the constellation Cygnus, and with an apparent magnitude of +1.25, it is the 19th most luminous star in the entire night sky. The star forms one …
Hadar (Beta Centauri) is a triple star system whose combined visual magnitude of +0.61 makes it the second-most luminous star in constellation of Centaurus, and the 11th most luminous stars in the entire sky. It …
Pollux is the brightest star in the constellation Gemini, and the 17th brightest in the entire night sky. However, contrary to convention, Pollux bears the designation Beta Geminorum, which by rights should apply to Castor …
© Copyright 2025 Astronomy Trek
