what is the brightest star at night
View full size image. Sirius, also known as the Dog Star or Sirius A, is the brightest star in Earth's night sky. The name means glowing in Greek. With a visual magnitude of -1.46, the star is outshone only by several planets as well as the International Space Station. Because Sirius is so bright, it was well-known to the ancients. What came as a surprise to astronomers was the discovery of a companion star, Sirius B, in 1862.