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How long does it take the light from Sirius to reach Earth?
Other Galaxies
Object | Time for the Light to Reach Us |
---|---|
Jupiter | 35 to 52 minutes |
Pluto | 5 1/2 hours (on average) |
Alpha Centauri (nearest star system) | 4.3 years |
Sirius (brightest star in our sky) | 9 years |
What star is 8.6 light years away?
Sirius
Sirius is highly visible in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter night sky, because the star has a high luminosity, or intrinsic brightness, relativeto other stars, and because it’s relatively close to Earth (8.6 light-years away). According to NASA, Sirius has a mass that’s two times that of Earth’s sun.
How many light years away is Sirius from the Earth?
The Sirius star system is the fifth nearest star system to Earth and it contains two of the eight nearest stars. Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to the Sun, lies at only half the distance (4.37 light years). Sirius, image: Hubble European Space Agency.
Is it possible to see Sirius at night from Earth?
No. Sirius is visible at all times, although during the summer it is in the daytime sky. and you would need to be above the atmosphere to be able to actually eyeball the star. The distance of 8.6ly means that the light leaving Sirius takes 8.6 years to reach Earth.
What is the distance between Sirius A and Sirius B?
Nicknamed The Pup, Sirius B is the nearest known white dwarf to the Sun. Sirius A and Sirius B orbit each other every 50 years at a distance between 8.2 and 31.5 astronomical units, which translates into an angular separation between 3 and 11 arcseconds.
What is the visual magnitude of Sirius?
The visual magnitude of Sirius is -1.44, lower – brighter – than any other star. There are brighter stars than Sirius in terms of actual energy and light output, but they are farther away and hence appear dimmer.