Brightest Stars Visible from Earth

The 24 brightest stars as seen from Earth, ranked by apparent magnitude. Sirius dominates at magnitude -1.46, shining nearly 4 times brighter than Vega. Six stars shine brighter than magnitude 0, visible even from city skies.

Data

#	Star	Apparent Magnitude	Distance (ly)	Bayer Designation
1	Sirius	-1.46	8.6	α Canis Majoris
2	Canopus	-0.74	310	α Carinae
3	Alpha Centauri	-0.27	4.34	α Centauri
4	Arcturus	-0.05	37	α Boötis
5	Vega	+0.03	25	α Lyrae
6	Capella	+0.08	43	α Aurigae
7	Rigel	+0.13	860	β Orionis
8	Procyon	+0.34	11	α Canis Minoris
9	Achernar	+0.46	140	α Eridani
10	Betelgeuse	+0.50	640	α Orionis
11	Hadar	+0.61	390	β Centauri
12	Altair	+0.76	17	α Aquilae
13	Acrux	+0.76	320	α Crucis
14	Aldebaran	+0.86	65	α Tauri
15	Antares	+0.96	550	α Scorpii
16	Spica	+0.97	250	α Virginis
17	Pollux	+1.14	34	β Geminorum
18	Fomalhaut	+1.16	25	α Piscis Austrini
19	Deneb	+1.25	2,600	α Cygni
20	Mimosa	+1.25	280	β Crucis
21	Regulus	+1.39	79	α Leonis
22	Adhara	+1.50	430	ε Canis Majoris
23	Castor	+1.58	51	α Geminorum
24	Shaula	+1.63	570	λ Scorpii