Astronomy & space · Curated list
Sun, Sirius, Polaris and 27 more, ranked by how much of the world has written about each one.
Most written-about first. Each description summarises the star's Wikipedia article, which its name links to.
1
Star at the centre of the Solar System
The star at the centre of the Solar System: a huge ball of hot plasma, made incandescent by nuclear fusion in its core. It gives off its energy from the surface mostly as infrared radiation and visible light, with 10% at ultraviolet energies.
Wikidata · Photo: Matúš Motlo, CC BY-SA 4.0
2
Brightest star in Earth's night sky
The night sky's brightest star, in Canis Major, a constellation of the southern sky. Its name comes from the Ancient Greek word Σείριος.
Wikidata · Photo: Mellostorm, CC BY-SA 3.0
3
4
Red supergiant star in the constellation Orion
A red supergiant in Orion, a constellation on the celestial equator. It is normally the tenth-brightest star of the night sky, and the second-brightest in Orion after Rigel.
Wikidata · Photo: Aaron McKinnon, E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani, CC BY 4.0
5
Nearest star to the Solar System
After the Sun, the star nearest to Earth, 4.25 light-years away in Centaurus, a constellation of the southern sky. Robert Innes discovered it in 1915; it is a small star of low mass, at apparent magnitude 11.13 too faint for the naked eye.
Wikidata · Photo: ESA/Hubble & NASA, CC BY 4.0
6
Brightest star in the constellation Lyra
The brightest star in Lyra, a constellation of the northern sky. Its Bayer designation is α Lyrae, Latinised as Alpha Lyrae; the short forms are Alpha Lyr and α Lyr.
Wikidata · Photo: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona, Public domain
7
%20(Giuseppe%20Donatiello).jpg?width=800)
8
Brightest star in the constellation Orion
A blue supergiant in Orion, a constellation on the celestial equator. Its Bayer designation is β Orionis, Latinised as Beta Orionis; the short forms are Beta Ori and β Ori.
Wikidata · Photo: Giuseppe Donatiello, CC0
.png?width=800)
9
Brightest star in the constellation Boötes
A red giant, the brightest star in Boötes, a constellation of the northern sky. Its Bayer designation is α Boötis, Latinised as Alpha Boötis; the short forms are Alpha Boo and α Boo.
Wikidata · Photo: Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), STScI, and NASA, Public domain
Binary star in the constellation Scorpius
The brightest star in Scorpius. Its Bayer designation is α Scorpii, Latinised as Alpha Scorpii.
Wikidata · Photo: Credit: ESO/K. Ohnaka, CC BY 4.0
11
Brightest star in the constellation Aquila
The twelfth-brightest star of the night sky and the brightest in Aquila, a constellation on the celestial equator. Its Bayer designation is Alpha Aquilae, the Latinised form of α Aquilae; the short forms are Alpha Aql and α Aql.
Wikidata · Photo: Cjkuhl at Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
12
Red dwarf star in the constellation Aquarius
A red dwarf with seven known exoplanets, in the constellation Aquarius, roughly 40.66 light-years (12.47 pc) from Earth.
Wikidata · Photo: Processing and color compositing by Nrco0e ; original images by Sloan Digital Sky Survey, CC BY 4.0
13
Brightest star in the constellation Auriga
The brightest star in Auriga, a constellation of the northern sky. Its Bayer designation is α Aurigae, Latinised as Alpha Aurigae; the short forms are Alpha Aur and α Aur.
Wikidata · Photo: Auriga_constellation_map.png : Torsten Bronger derivative work: Kxx ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0
.jpg?width=800)
14
Triple star system in the constellation Piscis Austrinus
One of the brightest stars of the night sky, and the brightest in Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish, a constellation of the southern sky. Its Bayer designation is Alpha Piscis Austrini, another form of α Piscis Austrini, shortened to Alpha PsA or α PsA.
Wikidata · Photo: NASA, ESA, and the Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble), CC BY 4.0
15
Eclipsing variable star in the constellation Perseus
A bright multiple star in Perseus, designated Beta Persei and popularly called the Demon Star. It was among the first variable stars other than novae to be discovered.
Wikidata · Photo: Dr. Fabien Baron, Dept. of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1090, labels indicating phase added…, CC BY-SA 3.0
16
Blue supergiant star in the constellation Cygnus
A blue supergiant in Cygnus, the constellation's brightest star and the 19th brightest of the night sky; its apparent magnitude varies a little, between +1.21 and +1.29.
Wikidata · Photo: Roman Köhler, Public domain
17
18
19
Star in the constellation Orion
Orion's third-brightest star, 5° west of the red supergiant Betelgeuse. Its Bayer designation is γ Orionis, Latinised as Gamma Orionis.
Wikidata · Photo: Roberto Mura, CC BY-SA 4.0
20
21
22
Star in the constellation Canis Major
A pulsating variable star, oxygen-rich and extreme, classed as either a red supergiant or a red hypergiant, 1.2 kiloparsecs from the Solar System in Canis Major, a constellation a little south of the celestial equator. It is among the largest stars known, among the most massive and luminous red supergiants, and among the most luminous stars of the Milky Way.
Wikidata · Photo: Oona Räisänen ( User:Mysid ), Public domain
23
Red dwarf star in the constellation Ophiuchus
A small red dwarf in Ophiuchus, at a distance from Earth of 5.96 light-years (1.83 pc). Apart from the three members of the Alpha Centauri system, no single star is known to be closer to the Sun, so it ranks fourth; it is also the nearest star in the northern celestial hemisphere.
Wikidata · Photo: Steve Quirk, Public domain
24
Triple star system in the constellation Centaurus
A system of three stars in Centaurus, a constellation of the southern sky. Its official name is Hadar.
Wikidata · Photo: Centaurus_constellation_map.png : Torsten Bronger derivative work: Kxx ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0
25
Triple star system in the constellation Orion
A system of three stars in Orion. It is designated 50 Orionis, shortened to 50 Ori, and ζ Orionis, Latinised as Zeta Orionis and shortened to Zeta Ori or ζ Ori.
Wikidata · Photo: Alnitak sun comparision.png : CWitte derivative work: Urutseg ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0
26
Stellar system in the constellation Carina
A stellar system, once called η Argus, of at least two stars that together shine more than five million times as brightly as the Sun, about 7,500 light-years away in Carina. Earlier a star of the 4th magnitude, it brightened in 1837 until it outshone Rigel, the beginning of what is called its "Great Eruption".
Wikidata · Photo: Nathan Smith (University of California, Berkeley), and NASA, Public domain
27
Star in the constellation Orion, in the center of the Orion's Belt
The middle star of Orion's Belt, in Orion, a constellation on the celestial equator. Its Bayer designation is ε Orionis, Latinised as Epsilon Orionis; the short forms are Epsilon Ori and ε Ori.
Wikidata · Photo: Davide De Martin ( http://www.skyfactory.org ); Credit: Digitized Sky Survey, ESA/ESO/NASA FITS Liberator, Public domain
28
Quadruple star system in Ursa Major
A star of the second magnitude in the handle of the Big Dipper, the asterism in Ursa Major. Its Bayer designation is ζ Ursae Majoris.
Wikidata · Photo: Cjkuhl at Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
29
Star in the constellation Scutum
A red supergiant or hypergiant, catalogued as BD-12°5055, 5,900 light-years away in Scutum. It is a pulsating variable too, varying between magnitude 8.29 at its brightest and 10.56 at its dimmest, so it can never be seen with the naked eye.
Wikidata · Photo: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2, CC BY-SA 3.0
30
Star in the constellation Libra
A red dwarf of spectral type M3V with a system of planets, 20.5 light-years from Earth in Libra. It is thought to have roughly a third of the Sun's mass, and it is the 101st closest star system to the Sun known.
Wikidata · Photo: ESO/L. Calçada, CC BY 4.0
Every Wikidata item that is a star, or a kind of star, and that has its own English Wikipedia article, ranked by the number of Wikimedia sites with a page about it — Wikipedia's language editions, mostly, and sister projects such as Wikiquote. That counts how many communities independently thought it worth describing, and nobody can buy a place on it. The top 30 are shown.
Wikidata files these under this list's query, but they are not what the list is about:
Fetched from Wikidata on 2026-09-25. Each description is this site's summary of the entry's Wikipedia article, which its name links to: the wording is ours, the facts are Wikipedia's, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. To correct an entry, correct it there; the next refresh carries the change.
If you are reading this on the way somewhere: Computatus eSIM sells prepaid data eSIMs for 190 countries, installed by QR code before you leave, so maps, tickets and messages work without a roaming bill.
| Country | Cheapest plan | Price | Order |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1GB per day | $2.33 | Get it → |
| France | 2GB per day | $2.15 | Get it → |
| Italy | 2GB per day | $1.81 | Get it → |
| United Kingdom | 2GB per day | $1.81 | Get it → |
| Germany | 2GB per day | $1.81 | Get it → |
| Canada | 1GB per day | $2.47 | Get it → |
| India | 1GB per day | $3.26 | Get it → |
| Australia | 1GB per day | $1.79 | Get it → |
See all Computatus eSIM plans →
A commission on plans bought through these links is what pays for this site. Nothing above depends on it: every entry is chosen and ranked before any price is looked up.
_(Giuseppe_Donatiello).jpg){kind=link}
.png){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
