The brightest star in the night sky is the Sirius star. According to NASA, it is over 20 times brighter than our sun and twice as massive, though it might not appear that way to the naked eye.

Sirius is bright enough to dominate the night sky after sunset particularly if there are no planets around. It’s very bright because: Sirius is a big blue-white star 25 times the mass of our Sun.

This gorgeous eight-hour exposure reveals the colors of stars as they make their way across the night sky, colors that can inform astronomers about the characteristics of each star.

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At that time the planet in question is as close as it gets (just 0.4 au), so bigger, and because it’s 100% illuminated from our point of view, it’s as bright as it can be in our night sky.

Early-rising and late-night stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere have a great opportunity right now to see Sirius, Earth’s brightest nighttime star. Sirius can be seen shining high in the sky ...