Thousands of
Undiscovered Constellations

Orion as seen from Alpha Centauri. With Javascript enabled, you can move your mouse over the picture to see more.

Intruder in Orion

Brighter than any other star in the constellation, the Dog Star, Sirius, intrudes on the Great Hunter, Orion. Perhaps this represents an addition to the mythology—a falcon on the hunter's shoulder.

In addition, a modest, red star in front of Orion is more than it seems. Most of the visible stars in this view are hundreds of light years away. The reddish star (circled red if Javascript is enabled and you move your mouse cursor over the picture), is nearby Proxima Centauri at less than a quarter light year away.

The star 44 Andromedae as seen from HD 7205 at only 0.27 parsec distance. With Javascript enabled, you can move your mouse cursor over the picture to see the "Distance View" of this Alien Sky. This shows just how close the neighbor is compared to all the other stars.

When Bright Really is Close By

A bright star does not always mean that it is close by. Some very close stars are too dim to see without a telescope. Some very distant stars can be seen halfway across the galaxy as bright beacons of light. This is one example where bright does mean close. From the star HD 7205 (a Henry Draper catalog number), the star 44 Andromedae is far brighter than Sirius is in our skies. And there is a good reason. This 44 Andromedae is only 0.27 parsec (0.88 light year) away. This makes the bright batch of Cygnus stars in the background look dim by comparison.

Viewing Cube closeup of HD 7205 and its next-door neighbors, 44 Andromedae and Beta Andromedae.

HD 7205 and its Neighbors

HD 7205 is blessed not only with a very close dwarf star neighbor, but also an amazingly close giant star—Beta Andromedae. As you can see in this Viewing Cube closeup, the red giant, Beta Andromeda is far closer than any giant is to Sol (and Earth)—a distance of 7.6 light years (2.33 parsecs).

Beta Andromeda in the night skies of HD 7205. Mousing over the picture with Javascript enabled reveals the distance view of the same Alien Skies.

Red Giant, Beta Andromedae

This seems slightly dimmer than 44 Andromedea in HD 7205's night skies, but not by much. This is still far brighter than Sirius in our own night skies, and for good reason. The giant stands about the same distance that Sirius does from Earth, but is intrinsically far brighter because of its large size.