Five almost famous stars that are worth a look

They may not be as well known as the superstars of the sky, but these easy-to-observe suns are anything but second-rate.

The winter constellations Orion, Gemini and Canis Major are particularly famous – but don't miss Canis Minor and its brightest star Procyon, which is just above the roof in the center of this image. Image credit: Preston Dyches (Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)

In the Hollywood of the sky, there are many dazzling celebrity stars, astronomical A-listers that every skywatcher adores. But for every celestial Taylor Swift, Beyoncé or Tom Cruise, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other lesser-known stars. These B-listers may not have their own fan clubs or groupies, but like all good understudies, they are just as fascinating in their own way.

We've chosen five of these stars to bring out of the background and into the spotlight. They may not be as much in the spotlight as their cosmic Kardashian neighbors Sirius, Regulus and Polaris, but they deserve to be on any must-see list and not be overlooked as we wander the sky on a clear night.

So here are the Almost Famous Five.

Procyon

With an impressive magnitude of 0.4, Procyon is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor and the 8th brightest star in the sky. Were it positioned anywhere else in the sky, it would undoubtedly be one of its superstars. Unfortunately, one of its closest neighbors is Sirius, The brightest star in the sky, and the stunning constellation of Orion – with the strikingly bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel shining in opposite corners – is also just a stone's throw away. As a result, Procyon is often ignored. In fact, it's a fascinating binary star just 11.4 light-years away, consisting of a class F5 white star orbited by a white dwarf. Get out and look at Procyon while you can, because its time is measured: in another 10 to 100 million years, it will reach the end of its life by swelling into a red giant star before disappearing.

Denebola

Sphinx-shaped Leo is one of the most striking constellations in the sky. Its brightest star, magnitude 1.4 Regulus, shines at the end of the handle of the famous Crescent asterism and is the 21st brightest star in the sky. But if you turn your gaze away from jewel-bright Regulus and to the other end of Leo, where it shines at the tip of the big cat's tail, you'll find Denebola. At magnitude 2.1, it's dimmer than Regulus, but this white main-sequence star, just 36 light-years from Earth, is 12 times brighter than our own Sun. Because it lies very close to the ecliptic, Denebola is often accompanied in the sky by a bright planet or the Moon, which is why it's frequently photographed by astrophotographers.

Cookab

You can't help but feel sorry for poor Kochab. Shining at magnitude 2.1 in Ursa Minor, it is the 58th brightest star in the sky. Although it is easily visible to the naked eye even from the heart of light-polluted cities, it is overshadowed by the most famous star in the entire sky: Polaris, the North Star. Polaris and Kochab are almost the same brightness, but Kochab has been relegated to being a star that people pass by on their way – or worse, confuse it. for — Polaris when you polar align your telescope or motorized star tracker. That's a shame, because Kochab is a fascinating orange giant star that's 50 times bigger than our Sun and 500 times brighter. So next time you align your telescope or astrophotography mount, take a good look at Kochab. It deserves it!

Saiph

With bright, reddish Betelgeuse and even brighter, sapphire Rigel, and a belt of three ice-shard stars tied tightly around its waist, Orion is a stunning constellation and one of the first constellations that novice stargazers look for and recognize. At magnitude 2.1, the faintest star in Hunter's famous outline, Saiph, is rarely given more than a brief glance. But that's grossly unfair, because it's a fascinating, distant sun. Saiph is a truly massive star, a class B1 supergiant, 15 to 20 times the size of our Sun and around 60,000 times more luminous. It's only so faint in our sky because it's 650 light-years away, so its bright light is dim.

Alkaid

As part of the constellation Ursa Major, this constellation is known to some as the Big Dipper, to others as The Plough is probably the most famous star pattern in the entire sky. Its two most famous members, the spotlight-grabbing Dubhe and Merak, are known as pointer stars because they point the way to the North Star Polaris. Overshadowed by this celebrity pair, which shines at the opposite end of the Big Dipper, at the very end of its curved handle, is Alkaid, at magnitude 1.9, the 40th brightest star in the night sky. Alkaid is perhaps best known for being the last star that starhoppers pass as they hop down the curved tail of the Big Dipper, “following the arc to Arcturus.” But it is much more than that. It's a young, blue-white main sequence star that's 700 times brighter than our Sun – but more importantly, it's an imposter! Despite being in the middle of those stars, Alkaid isn't a member of the Ursa Major Moving Group, the small collection of stars that make up most of the Big Dipper in our sky. It just happens to be in the same direction as seen from Earth – but moving in a completely different direction. So in the distant future, Alkaid will drift away from the Big Dipper, distorting and eventually destroying its shape.