The Brightest Star in the Sky Trivia Quiz

The concept of magnitude - a measure of the brightness of a star or other celestial body - is believed to have been introduced by Greek astronomer Hipparchus in the 1st century BC, and then employed by Alexandrian astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century AD) in his catalogue of stars. Stars were ranked in six groups according to their brightness - those of first magnitude being the brightest. The reverse logarithmic scale used today - in which the brightest an object, the lowest its magnitude number - was established in 1856 by English astronomer Norman Pogson.

The 19th-brightest star in the night sky, with an average apparent magnitude of +1.25, Deneb (Alpha Cygni) is the brightest star in the constellation of Cygnus, and one of the vertices of the Summer Triangle (the others being Altair and Vega). It is also the head of the asterism known as the Northern Cross, and is not visible south of 45º S. Deneb is a blue supergiant: despite being the most luminous of first-magnitude stars along with Rigel, it is also the most remote, with a distance of 2,600 light years (802 parsecs) from the Sun.

The name Deneb means "tail" in Arabic, and comes from the phrase "Dhanab al-Dajājah", meaning "tail of the hen" - a reference to the position of the star in the body of the animal (in this case a swan) that the constellation is meant to represent. Other stars have been given similar names for the same reason - notably Denebola ("tail of the lion") in the constellation of Leo.

Pollux (Beta Geminorum) is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Gemini; the constellation's second-brightest star, Castor, was erroneously designated as Alpha Geminorum by German astronomer Johannes Bayer in 1603. The 17th-brightest star in the night sky, Pollux is a red-clump giant of reddish-orange hue, located at a distance of 33.7 light years (10.3 parsecs) from the Sun. It has an apparent magnitude of 1,15. In 2006 a planet, named Pollux b (officially Thestias), was discovered orbiting the star in a period of about 590 days (1.61 years).

Castor and Pollux are the names of the Dioscuri, the twin sons of Leda, queen of Sparta, In the most common version of the myth, Castor, the son of Leda's husband,Tyndareus, was mortal, while Pollux, being the son of Zeus, was immortal.

Spica (Alpha Virginis) is the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo, and the 15th- (or 16th-, according to some sources) brightest star in the night sky. It is a spectroscopic binary star, whose components (both blue giants) stay very close together and orbit each other every four days. Being close to the celestial equator, Spica is visible in the night sky from both hemispheres. It is located at a distance of 250 light years (77 parsecs) from the Sun, and has an apparent magnitude of 1.04. Together with Regulus (Leo) and Arcturus (Boötes), it forms the asterism known as the Spring Triangle

The name Spica is the Latin word for "ear of grain" - a reference to the sheaf of wheat ("spica Virginis") - a symbol of the harvest season - that the Virgin holds in her hand in traditional depictions of the zodiac sign.

Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri) is the brightest star in the constellation of Taurus, and the 14th-brightest in the night sky. With an apparent magnitude of 0.85, Aldebaran is a red giant and a variable star, located at a distance of about 65 light years (20 parsecs) from the Sun. It is one of the easiest stars to spot in the night sky, both because of its brightness and its position relative to the three stars in Orion's belt.

The name Aldebaran ("the follower") comes from the Arabic phrase "Nayyir al-Dabarān", meaning "the bright one of the follower". Indeed, the star appears to be following the Pleiades, and open star cluster located northwest of Taurus. In Ancient Persia, Aldebaran was regarded as one of the four "royal stars" - the celestial guardians of the sky - along with Regulus (Leo), Antares (Scorpio) and Fomalhaut (Piscis Austrinus).

Altair (Alpha Aquilae) is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila, and the 12th-brightest in the night sky. It is an A-type main-sequence star (also known as A dwarf star), with an apparent magnitude of 0.77. One of the vertices of the Summer Triangle along with Deneb and Vega, Altair is located at a distance of 16.7 light years (5.1 parsecs) from the Sun, within the interstellar cloud known as G-Cloud - which also contains the triple-star system Alpha Centauri. Being one of the closest stars to Earth, Altair is easily visible in the night sky.

The name Altair, used since the Middle Ages, means "the eagle" (which also translates the Latin Aquila) in Arabic, and is an abbreviation of the phrase "Al-Nisr Al-Ṭa'ir", meaning "the flying eagle".

Although designated as Alpha Orionis, Betelgeuse is not the brightest star in the constellation of Orion: this distinction goes to Rigel (Beta Orionis), a blue supergiant that is also the seventh-brightest star in the night sky. Betelgeuse is a pulsating, semi-regular variable star, whose apparent magnitude ranges between 0.0 and +1.6: because of that, its ranking in the group of first-magnitude stars hovers between ninth and eleventh. It is also one of the largest stars in the universe in terms of volume, and the only first-magnitude red supergiant along with Antares (Alpha Scorpii).

Easy to see with the naked eye because of its position and orange-red colour, Betelgeuse is one of the stars that make up the Winter Triangle along with Sirius (Canis Major) and Procyon (Canis Minor). Visible from most parts of Earth except Antarctica, it is located at an estimated distance of 400-600 light years (122-184 parsecs) from the Sun.

The name Betelgeuse is derived from the Arabic "Yad al-Jauzā", meaning "hand of al-Jauzā" (an ancient Arabic name for Orion): in the Middle Ages, the "y" was erroneusly transliterated in Latin as "b".

Located in the northern celestial hemisphere, Vega (Alpha Lyrae) is the brightest star in the constellation of Lyra, and the fifth-brightest star in the night sky. It is a blue-white main-sequence star, with an apparent magnitude of 0.03. Vega can only be viewed north of 51º S. A prominent feature of this star is the debris disk that surrounds it. One of the Sun's closest neighbours, located at a distance of 25 light years (7.68 parsecs), Vega lies at the right angle of the Summer Triangle, which also includes Deneb and Altair.

The name Vega is a loose transliteration of the Arabic word "wāqi" ("falling") in the phrase "an-nasr al-wāqi" ("the falling eagle/vulture"). Introduced in Europe in the 13th century, the name was originally spelled as "Wega".

Arcturus (Alpha Boötis) is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Boötes (the Herdsman), and the fourth-brightest in the night sky; it is also the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. A red giant with a distinctive orange hue, Arcturus has an apparent magnitude of -0.05, and is located at a distance of 36.7 light years (11.2 parsecs) from the Sun. Along with Spica and Regulus, it is one of the vertices of the Spring Triangle; it is also visible from both of Earth's hemispheres (with the sole exception of Antarctica), and has been been observed in daytime or around sunset.

The name Arcturus is a Latinization of the Greek "Arktouros", meaning "guardian of the bear", as it lies almost in a direct line with the tail of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. In Greek myth, the Great Bear was identified with the nymph Callisto, one of Zeus' many lovers, and their son Arcas with her guardian. The star's name has also been suggested as one of the possible etymologies of the name Arthur.

Canopus (Alpha Carinae) is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina, and the second-brightest star in the night sky after Sirius. It is an A9-type bright giant with an apparent magnitude of -0.74, which appears white when viewed with the naked eye. Canopus lies at a distance of 310 light years (95 parsecs) from the Sun. It is not visible north of 37º N, while in the Southern Hemisphere it is generally seen in mid- to late summer. Because of its brightness, Canopus traditionally had a major role in navigation for the ancient Polynesians and other peoples of South and Southeast Asia.

A Latinization of the Greek "Kanobos", Canopus is a proper noun that may refer to either a character in Greek mythology (the pilot of Menelaus' ship during the Trojan War) or an Egyptian port in the Nile Delta, located a short distance from the site of the Battle of the Nile (1798). In Arabic, it is known as Suhail ("glorious").

With an apparent magnitude of -1.44, Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris) is the brightest star in the night sky, as well as the brightest star in the constellation of Canis Major. It is a binary star consisting of a main-sequence star (Sirius A) and a faint white dwarf (Sirius B), orbiting each other every 50 years. Located at a distance of 8.6 light years (2.6 parsecs), Sirius is the fifth-closest stellar system to the Sun. One of the vertices of the Winter Triangle along with Procyon and Betelgeuse, it is visible from almost every region of Earth, with the exception of the northernmost latitudes.

The name Sirius comes from the Greek "seirios", meaning "scorching" or "glowing". It is commonly known as the Dog Star - a reference to its prominent position in the constellation of Canis Major, the Greater Dog. In Ancient Greece, its heliacal rising (the time of the year when a star becomes visible at dawn) was associated with the hottest days (the "dog days") of summer. while in Ancient Egypt, where it was known as Sothis, Sirius was believed to be the cause of the Nile floods.