This is a list of the brightest naked eye stars to +2.50 magnitude, as determined by their maximum, total or combined apparent visual magnitudes as seen from Earth. Although several of the brightest stars are also known close binary or multiple star systems, they do appear to the naked eye as single stars. The given list below combines/adds the magnitudes of bright individual components. Proper names in this list are those approved by the Working Group on Star Names
Apparent visual magnitudes of the brightest star can also be compared to non-stellar objects in our Solar System. Here the maximum visible magnitudes above the brightest star, Sirius (−1.46), are as follows. Excluding the Sun, the brightest objects are the Moon (−12.7), Venus (−4.89), Jupiter (−2.94), Mars (−2.91), Mercury (−2.45), and Saturn (−0.49).
Any exact order of the visual brightness of stars is not perfectly defined for a number of reasons:
Stellar brightness were traditionally based on the apparent visual magnitude as perceived by the human eye, from the brightest stars of 1st magnitude to the faintest at 6th magnitude. Since the invention of the telescope and the discovery of double or binary stars meant that star brightness could be expressed as either individual (separate) or total (combined). The table is ordered by combined magnitude of all components that appear to the naked eye as if it were a single star, with the magnitudes of any individual components bright enough to make a detectable contribution included in parentheses. For example, the total or combined magnitude of the double star Alpha Centauri is −0.27, while its two component stars have magnitudes of +0.01 and +1.33.
New or more accurate photometry, standard filters, or adopting differing methods using standard stars can measure stellar magnitudes slightly differently. This can change the apparent order of lists of bright stars. The table shows V magnitudes, which are measured using a specific filter that closely approximates human vision. However, other kinds of magnitude systems do exist based on different wavelengths, some well away from the distribution of the visible wavelengths of light, and apparent magnitudes can vary dramatically in the different systems. For example, Betelgeuse has a K-band (infra-red) apparent magnitude of −4.05.
Some stars, like Betelgeuse and Antares, are variable stars, changing their magnitude over days, months or years. In the table, the range of variation is indicated with var. Single magnitude values quoted for variable stars come from a variety of sources. Magnitudes are expressed within the table are when the stars are either at maximum brightness, which is repeated for every cycle. I.e. The eclipsing binary Algol, or if the variations are small, as a simple average magnitude. For all red variable stars, describing a single maximum brightness is often difficult because each cycle produces a different maximum brightness, which is thought to be caused but poorly understood pulsations in stellar evolution processes. Such quoted stellar brightness is sometimes based on the average maximum apparent magnitude from estimated maximums over many observed light-curve cycles, sometimes spanning across centuries. Results often quoted in the literature are not necessarily straight forward and may differ in expressing an alternate value for a singular maximum brightness or as a range of values.
A number of stars, thought to be non-variable, are used as standard stars and their magnitudes are carefully determined. These standard stars can then be used as comparisons to determine the magnitude of other stars on a consistent scale.
Main table of the brightest stars
The source of magnitudes cited in this list is the linked Wikipedia articles - this basic list is simply a catalog of what Wikipedia itself documents. References can be found in the individual articles.
