Historical brightest stars
Encyclopedia
The Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...

 and all of the visible stars are in different orbits about the core of the Milky Way galaxy. Thus, their relative positions change over time, and for the nearer stars this movement can be measured. As a star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 moves toward or away from us, its apparent brightness
Apparent magnitude
The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 changes. Sirius
Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...

 is currently the brightest star in Earth's night sky but it has not always been so. The table below lists the brightest star in Earth's night sky at each period within the last or next 5 million years.
Star Start
Year
End
Year
Maximum
Year
Maximum
magnitude
Apparent magnitude
The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 
Distance at
maximum (LY)
Epsilon Canis Majoris
Epsilon Canis Majoris
Epsilon Canis Majoris is the second brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation "epsilon" despite being the second brightest and not the fifth brightest star in its constellation. It has the traditional name Adhara...

 
... -4,460,000 -4,700,000 -3.99 34
Beta Canis Majoris
Beta Canis Majoris
Beta Canis Majoris is a star in the constellation of Canis Major. It has the traditional name Murzim, Al-Murzim or Mirzam....

 
-4,460,000 -3,700,000 -4,420,000 -3.65 37
Canopus
Canopus
Canopus |Alpha]] Carinae) is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and Argo Navis, and the second brightest star in the night-time sky, after Sirius. Canopus's visual magnitude is −0.72, and it has an absolute magnitude of −5.53.Canopus is a supergiant of spectral...

 (first time)
-3,700,000 -1,370,000 -3,110,000 -1.86 177
Zeta Sagittarii
Zeta Sagittarii
Zeta Sagittarii is the third brightest star system in the constellation Sagittarius. It has the traditional name Ascella from a Late Latin word meaning armpit....

 
-1,370,000 -1,080,000 -1,200,000 -2.74 8
Zeta Leporis
Zeta Leporis
Zeta Leporis is a white main sequence star approximately 70 light-years away in the constellation of Lepus. The star is suspected of being a spectroscopic binary star system, but this is yet to be confirmed. In 2001, an asteroid belt was confirmed to orbit the star.-Stellar components:Zeta...

 
-1,080,000 -950,000 -1,050,000 -2.05 5.3
Canopus (second time) -950,000 -420,000 -950,000[1] -1.09[1] 252[1]
Aldebaran
Aldebaran
Aldebaran is a red giant star located about 65 light years away in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. With an average apparent magnitude of 0.87 it is the brightest star in the constellation and is one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky...

 
-420,000 -210,000 -320,000 -1.54 21.5
Capella
Capella (star)
Capella is the brightest star in the constellation Auriga, the sixth brightest star in the night sky and the third brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus and Vega. Although it appears to be a single star to the naked eye, it is actually a star system of four stars in...

 
-210,000 -160,000 -240,000[2] -0.82[2] 27.9[2]
Canopus (third time) -160,000 -90,000 -160,000 [1] -0.70[1] 302[1]
Sirius
Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...

-90,000 +210,000 +60,000 -1.64 7.8
Vega
Vega
Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, the fifth brightest star in the night sky and the second brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus...

 
+210,000 +480,000 +290,000 -0.81 17.2
Canopus (fourth time) +480,000 +990,000 +480,000[1] -0.40 346[1]
Beta Aurigae
Beta Aurigae
Beta Aurigae , traditionally named Menkalinan, is a white subgiant ternary star system approximately 85 light-years away in the constellation Auriga.- Nomenclature :...

 
+990,000 +1,150,000 +1,190,000[2] -0.40[2] 28.5[2]
Delta Scuti
Delta Scuti
Delta Scuti is a white, F-type giant star in the constellation Scutum. It is approximately 187 light years from Earth. Delta Scuti is the prototype of the Delta Scuti type variable stars. It is a high-amplitude δ Scuti type pulsator with light variations of about 0.15 minutes...

 
+1,150,000 +1,330,000 +1,250,000 -1.84 9.2
Gamma Draconis  +1,330,000 +2,030,000 +1,550,000 -1.39 27.7
Upsilon Librae
Upsilon Librae
Upsilon Librae is a Class K3, fourth-magnitude star in the constellation Libra. Upsilon Librae is a double or multiple stellar system located about 195 light-years from Earth....

 
+2,030,000 +2,670,000 +2,290,000 -0.46 30
HR 2853  +2,670,000 +3,050,000 +2,870,000 -0.88 14
Omicron Herculis
Omicron Herculis
Omicron Herculis is a multiple star system in the constellation Hercules. It has the traditional name Atia and the Flamsteed designation 103 Herculis.- Properties :...

 
+3,050,000 +3,870,000 +3,470,000 -0.63 44
Beta Cygni +3,870,000 ... +4,610,000 -0.52 80
[1] Peak magnitude is not the brightest for this star
[2] This peak occurs when another star is brightest
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