What Do We Know About Sirius?

Sirius is the brightest star we can see from Earth at night.

Imagine you're playing with a flashlight in a dark room, that's like Sirius shining through all the space between us. It's so bright because it’s one of the closest stars to our home, the Sun.

Sirius is about 8.6 light-years away. That means the light we see from Sirius today actually left the star more than 8 years ago! If you had a super-fast bike that could go at the speed of light, it would take you over 8 years to get there.

Sirius isn’t alone, it has a companion called Sirius B. They orbit each other like two ice skaters spinning around in a circle. Sirius B is much smaller and cooler than Sirius, but it's still pretty amazing!

Sometimes, when you're looking at the night sky, you can see both stars together, they’re like best friends having a dance in space!