Today Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky is an unmistakable blue-white in colour although it does twinkle a lot and can appear to change colour. However no one would think of describing it as red.It is thus a source of confusion that many ancient writers describe the star Read more…
![Star types from left to right: a red dwarf, our Sun, a blue dwarf, and R136a1 (hypergiant). Where star sizes are measured by radius, from centre to surface, and where 1 solar radius is equal to that of our Sun (km) - R136a1’s radius is 35.4 times greater than the Sun [approximately 24.8 million km]. Credit: Author: ESO/M. Kornmesser](https://armaghplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/image-of-star-types.jpg)
How big is the largest known star? Compared to planets, stars will always be the overall group winners in terms of superior size. When you look at the night sky on a clear night and away from city lights, you will see that there are stars of varying sizes and Read more…
At the beginning of March look west just after sunset to see three of the ‘wandering stars’. Mercury will be close to the horizon, with Venus and Jupiter shining brightly above it. Mercury will quickly set below the horizon and by the middle of the month will have disappeared from Read more…
If you look towards the west just after sunset this February you will see a very bright star in the darkening sky. Known as the Evening Star, brilliant Venus steals the celestial show. After the Moon, Venus is the next brightest object in the sky. Higher in the heavens and Read more…
Which is the brightest star in the sky (apart from the Sun)? Many non-astronomers believe that the Pole star (Polaris) is the brightest star but there are at least forty brighter stars. The correct answer is Sirius, a wonder of the winter sky. Finding Sirius in the winter sky Read more…