Sirius the brightest star?

Hello fellow ATS'ers!..

I’ve been looking at the sky recently and I’m feeling quite puzzled as Sirius does not appear bright anymore.

From my view (midlands, UK) the star Procyon outshines any other star that i can see in the night sky and Procyon is supposedly the 8th brightest star. Sirius is supposedly the brightest star in the sky.

Would anyone be able to confirm this or is this a misunderstanding in my knowledge of astronomy?

An image displaying Sirius and Procyon along with the constellation of Orion:

I believe it is?

It's an A1 hydrogen fusing dwarf with a temp of 9880 Kelvin. I believe it's 26 times brighter than the sun.

reply to post by CaptainBeno


Cheers for the reply!

Basically, two questions:

a) Is Sirius no longer as bright as it was or

b) Is Procyon now the brightest star?

reply to post by toocoolnc


I do believe Procyon and Mirzam are the "anouncer stars" that rise before it on the horizon, it may seem Procyon is brighter but I do believe it's not!

I don't think Sirius (the Greek name for Scorching) will burn out for a long time yet?..........well I hope not?

Sirius is still the brightest, man. You probably just aren't going outside late enough to see it when it is high in the sky.

What I would guess is happening is that you are seeing Sirius when it is low in the sky. When that's early in the evening (or just a little before sunrise), the higher star will look brighter against the darker background (the sunset or sunrise ~half of the horizon stays brighter for longer or gets brighter earlier; look up twilight, civil twilight, and astronomical twilight if you don't know about them already).

Also if you live near civilization there are enough lights on at ground level pretty much all the time so that a star will not look quite as bright while low in the horizon as it would high in the sky against a darker background whatever time it is.

reply to post by 11andrew34


I just went out to take a look. My guess is that OP is mistaking Jupiter for Procyon.

It being low in the sky, and the hazy light-polluted skies we have here in Britain are most likely the cause of it not looking as bright as it should. Wait till a clear and frosty January night, and Sirius will dazzle you.

DenyObfuscation
reply to post by 11andrew34

 

I just went out to take a look. My guess is that OP is mistaking Jupiter for Procyon.

That could be the case too, as Procyon is not really that bright anyway (Rigel in Orion is brighter). But then Jupiter should be easily recognised as a planet because it doesn't twinkle.

reply to post by toocoolnc


Your looking at Jupiter mate. Am in Manchester and watch the sky everynight and Sirius is just as bright as always but your mistaking Jupiter for Procyon.

On a side note it`s been a brilliant night to see meteors, especially if your looking in that general direction. Good build up to the peak of the Geminid meteor shower.

I too think it has dimmed because I was trying to find it the other night with a hand held stellar scope.

Plus the spcedock near Sirius is now inbound for Earth with all its occupants, maybe that's why????
The one that looks like a millstone.

Sirius is like looking at an aircraft coming right at you with it's landing light on.

Well, at lease that's what it looks like here in Outback Western Australia.

POW! Is it a bird, is it a plane...........NNNNNOOOO IT'S SIRIUS!

DenyObfuscation
reply to post by 11andrew34

 

I just went out to take a look. My guess is that OP is mistaking Jupiter for Procyon.

I think so, too. I looked last night at Sirius was still the brightest "star", but Jupiter was the brightest object in that part of the sky.

Thank you all for the replies. What a wonderful community. Yes I believe you are right. I think it is Jupiter.

At first, I had told my friend that it was Pollux. Then after a bit of research I had to reiterate my statement and told him it was Procyon.

Looks like I was mistaken again!..

reply to post by DenyObfuscation

 

I just went out to take a look. My guess is that OP is mistaking Jupiter for Procyon.

reply to post by fenian8

 

Your looking at Jupiter mate. Am in Manchester and watch the sky everynight and Sirius is just as bright as always but your mistaking Jupiter for Procyon.

Does this mean that we will see jupiter move across the background of the stars?

toocoolnc
Does this mean that we will see jupiter move across the background of the stars?

Yes. Jupiter is currently in full retrograde motion. For the next 2-3 months you'll see it move down through Gemini towards Aldebaraan (in Taurus). Around the beginning of March it'll slow and reverse direction, going prograde back through Gemini.

Enjoy the show!

DenyObfuscation
reply to post by 11andrew34

 

I just went out to take a look. My guess is that OP is mistaking Jupiter for Procyon.

Ha, the very next post even. Good job mang. I took the dog out really late/early last night and saw it and thought of this thread and so came back to check it out today and see if anyone called it. Good to see ATS still has enough astro peeps to nail stuff like this pdq.

But yeah, beyond just me doing some silly e-face saving here, Jupiter is still in their neighborhood and it's really quite nice and so worth the bump here I think. With all the bright stars and Orion nearby it all looks great and is super easy to find.

AriesJedi


Plus the spcedock near Sirius is now inbound for Earth with all its occupants, maybe that's why????
The one that looks like a millstone.

Umm, what???

I don't see a smiley at the end of that statement.

(I really hope you were kidding)