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The Sun -

The Sun lies at the heart of the Solar System, the largest object in it. It's a star, a massive rotating ball of plasma set 93 million miles (149 million km) away from Earth. We rely on the Sun for our existence. It radiates light and heat. Without it, the Earth would freeze.

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The Sun -

As the best-known star out there, the Sun is constantly under the spotlight. But it's just one of about 100 billion stars in our galaxy, called the Milky Way. And some of these celestial superstars are certainly worth eyeing up.

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Sirius -

Sirius—also known as the "Dog Star"—is set in the constellation Canis Major (Big Dog), hence its nickname. It's the brightest star visible from Earth and relatively close to our Solar System, only about 8.6 light-years away.

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Sirius -

Celebrated by stargazers for its stunning luminosity, Sirius is actually what's known as a binary star system, which means Sirius A, the main-sequence star, has a dwarf companion, Sirius B.

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Canopus -

The brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina, Canopus is also the second-brightest star in the nighttime sky.

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Canopus -

Canopus is 309.8 light-years away from Earth. It was known to the ancient Egyptians and the Native American Navajo. To Chinese astronomers, Canopus was called the Old Man of the South Pole.

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Alpha Centauri -

Alpha Centauri (in the center of the photograph) is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It's also the third-brightest star in the night sky, outshone by only Sirius and Canopus.

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Alpha Centauri -

Alpha Centauri is actually part of a tripe star system consisting of Alpha Centauri A, B, and Proxima Centauri. The Alpha Centauri System is the closest star system to our Solar System, with Proxima Centauri a mere 4.2 light-years away.

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Polaris -

Polaris is often called the North Star for its proximity to the north celestial pole. It's for this reason that this star has been used as a navigational aid in the Northern Hemisphere for centuries.

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Polaris -

Polaris lies in the constellation Ursa Minor (Little Bear) and, despite being 447.6 light-years away from Earth, is easy to spot in the nighttime sky.

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Betelgeuse -

A blazing red supergiant star burning brightly in the constellation of Orion, Betelgeuse is approximately 624.5 light-years away from Earth.

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Betelgeuse -

Astronomers are watching Betelgeuse with increased anticipation. One day it will go supernova, dying in a huge luminous explosion that will be visible to people on Earth. When exactly this spectacular event will occur is unknown.

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Rigel -

While Betelgeuse's vibrant brilliance is impressive, the brightest star in Orion is Rigel. Another example of a multi-star system, consisting of at least four stars, the primary star, Rigel A, is 21 times more massive than our Sun, and simply blinding in its luminosity.

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Rigel -

Rigel lies 864.3 light-years away from Earth and is a relatively young star, with estimates suggesting it's only 10 million years old. Pictured is Orion rising behind the iconic hoodoos near Drumheller in Alberta, Canada.

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Vega -

History was made on July 16-17, 1850, when Vega was the first star to be photographed, other than the Sun. Most astronomers agree that Vega is probably the next most important star in the sky after the Sun, having been studied extensively by the scientific community.

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Vega -

Vega is set in the constellation of Lyra and is relatively close to Earth, at around 25 light-years away. Vega is part of the so-called Summer Triangle of stars in Orion, the other two being Altair and Deneb.

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Pleiades -

Pleiades is better known as the Seven Sisters, an open star cluster located in the constellation of Taurus. This celestial sisterhood owes its name to an ancient Greek legend in which the stars represent the daughters of the ocean nymph Pleione.

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Pleiades -

According to estimates, the Pleiades cluster is approximately 444.2 light-years away from Earth. An here's a revelation: while the seven largest stars are most apparent, the cluster actually consists of over 1,000 confirmed members, making it the largest extended family in the cosmos.

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Antares -

Size matters in the universe, and Antares, a red supergiant, is one of the largest and most luminous observable stars in the nighttime sky. That's very impressive, given that the star is a distant 554.5 light-years away from Earth.

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Antares -

Also known as Alpha Scorpii, Antares is located in the constellation of Scorpius. Its size dwarfs our own Sun, which is why it can be seen with the naked eye.

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VY Canis Majoris -

Colossal as Antares is, it's not the biggest star on the block. Larger still is VY Canis Majoris. Another red supergiant, you can gauge its massive dimensions from this illustration. Our Sun appears as a mere speck against its gigantic mass.

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VY Canis Majoris -

VY Canis Majoris is located in the constellation Canis Major and is an astonishing 1.2 kiloparsecs from the Earth. That's an almost incomprehensible 3,900 light-years away from our own planet.

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UY Scuti -

The current record holder for the largest known star in the universe is UY Scuti. The size of this gargantuan red supergiant situated in the constellation Scutum is almost unimaginable. It's around 1,700 times bigger than our Sun!

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UY Scuti -

UY Scuti also impresses when it comes to distance: it's a whopping 9,459 light-years away from Earth. The star's remote location makes it difficult to observe, but is all the more compelling for it.

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Icarus -

Compared with Icarus, however, UY Scuti is a walk in the park. Icarus is a mind-blowing nine billion light-years from Earth, which means light from the star was emitted 4.4 billion years after the Big Bang.

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Icarus -

Scientists call this remote blue supergiant star MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1. The discovery and study of Icarus has provided a fascinating glimpse into the early universe.

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Earendel -

The farthest star ever seen, however, almost defies belief. Called Earendel and only discovered in 2022, this star is a jaw-dropping 28 billion light-years from Earth. Light from it has taken an astonishing 13.4 billion years to reach us. It's pictured here imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope, although it was the Hubble Space Telescope that first photographed the star.

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Earendel -

Earendel sits in the constellation of Cetus, itself located in an early and lonely universe. Studying Earendel, scientifically designated as WHL0137-LS, has allowed astronomers privileged access to the very infancy of the cosmos and the mysteries it keeps.

Sources: (Universe Today) (Star Register) (BBC Science Focus) (Space.com) 

See also: Mysterious moons of our Solar System

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