How many astronomy facts are there for all the objects and phenomenon in the entire universe? To count the stars in the universe we need a one followed by 22 zeros. Think about this, there are planets orbiting many of those stars. Now think about all the moons that orbit the planets, and the comets, and the asteroids, and everything else in the universe. It’s a lot to consider. Not every piece of information can be presented here. But it will be a lot of fun.

How about the brightest stars as seen from Earth? Those are good astronomy facts. That’s discounting the Sun which is about 250,000 times closer than the next nearest star. It’s so bright as seen from Earth that it washes out all the other stars in the sky during a phenomenon called “daylight.” For the purposes of this discussion, lower numbers for brightness mean a brighter star. In the scale we’ll use the sun is 26.73, and the moon is -12.6. With that in mind, here are the top 5.

#5 is the Arabic word for eagle or vulture, Vega. As seen from Earth its magnitude is .03. When looking at these astronomy facts remember that brightest from Earth doesn’t mean largest or brightest. Our sun, for example, appears brighter than any other star, even though it’s not one of the brightest in the universe. That’s because it’s so close.

#4 is Rigel Kentaurus, that’s Arabic for foot of the centaur. It’s about four light years from Earth with a magnitude of -.01.

At #3, by the known astronomy facts is Arcturus. In Greek that means guardian of the bear. Arcturus is 37 light-years from Earth.

#2 is Canopus. Named for the pilots of Jason’s vessel in Jason and the Argonauts, this star is the brightest of all of these top five. But because of its distance, 313 light-years from Earth, it only appears to be second brightest. From earth its magnitude is -.62.

#1 is reserved for serious, meaning scorching in the Greek language. Sirius is also known as the Dog Star because it’s the brightest star in the constellation of Big Dog. At only 9 light-years away from Earth it is the second closest in these top five. But from Earth it has a magnitude of -1.44. That makes it easily the brightest star as seen in the night sky.

This information doesn’t even scratch the surface of astronomy facts. But consider it next time you see the stars in the night sky.