Most stars have scientific names, but some have common names that have been passed down through history. Some astronomers use the scientific name, while others use the common name. Here’s a list of the brightest stars in the sky:
- Sirius
- Canopus
- Arcturus
- Alpha Centauri A
- Vega
- Rigel
- Procyon
- Achernar
- Betelgeuse
- Hadar (Agena)
- Capella A
- Altair
- Aldebaran
- Capella B
- Spica
- Antares
- Pollux
- Fomalhaut
- Deneb
- Mimosa
Of course, this is just a tiny list of stars. There are some enormous lists of stars out there. One of the most comprehensive is the SIMBAD database. This is an online database that contains 4.3 million objects. NASA has an even larger database of extragalactic objects that contains 163 million objects.
Here’s a good list of all the named stars in alphabetical order.
We have written many articles about stars here on Universe Today. Here’s an article about the biggest star in the Universe, and here’s an article that describes how massive stars form.
If you’d like more information on stars, check out Hubblesite’s News Releases about Stars, and here’s the stars and galaxies homepage.
We have recorded several episodes of Astronomy Cast about stars. Here are two that you might find helpful: Episode 12: Where Do Baby Stars Come From, and Episode 13: Where Do Stars Go When they Die?