Arabic star names / Sirius
Sirius
الشعرى اليمانية
Sirius comes from the Arabic الشعرى اليمانية (al-Shiʿrā al-Yamāniya), which means “the southern Shiʿrā”. It is the 1st-brightest star in the sky, in Canis Major.
- Brightness
- -1.44
- Colour
- white
- Constellation
- Canis Major
- Best seen
- February evenings
- Right ascension
- 6h 45m
- Declination
- −16° 43′
The name
The brightest star in the night sky. Al-Shiʿrā is named in the Qur'an (al-Najm 53:49): 'And that He is the Lord of al-Shiʿrā.' The name Sirius itself is Greek.
Where you can see it
It rises everywhere south of 73°N. From Riyadh it climbs to 49° above the horizon. From London it climbs to 22° above the horizon. From Sydney it climbs to 73° above the horizon.
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