SUNSET: 
Meet Kochab, a Guardian of the Pole
Meet the stars: Kochab is no record-breaking bright star, but it's easy enough to find — and it may have played an important role through history.
Tour 15 of the Brightest Stars on New Year's Eve (VIDEO)
Tour 15 of the sky's brightest stars all in one night on this New Year's Eve! This interactive Worldwide Telescope video will show you the way.
Meet Aldebaran, the Bull’s Eye
Learn more about Aldebaran, the red-orange giant star that "follows" the Pleiades across the sky.
Meet Capella, the Goat Star
Capella is the sixth-brightest star in the sky — and it's more than one star! The main two stars in the system are near-twins, bright yellow giants.
Meet Arcturus: Guardian of the Bear
Arcturus is one of the brightest stars in the sky — a cool red giant in Bootes, the Herdsman, that's often tied mythologically to Ursa Major, the Bear.
Meet Antares: The Star That Is Not Mars
Antares is a red supergiant that — like Betelgeuse — will one day go supernova.
Meet Dubhe, Giant of the Big Dipper
Of the seven stars in the Big Dipper, Dubhe is an outlier. Its color, speed across the sky, and evolutionary age set it apart from its comrades.
Meet the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters
The Pleiades are actually a star cluster of thousands of stars enshrouded in dust and gas, and they're easy to find if you know where to look.
Meet Altair, the Eagle’s Eye
Altair, centerpiece of Aqulia, the Eagle, is the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky and one of the closest stars to Earth.
Meet Barnard’s Star, Our Red Dwarf Neighbor
This faint red dwarf star is famous not because it's bright but because it's fast-moving — you can actually see it moving across the sky if you track it over several years.
Meet Canopus, the Second Brightest Star
The second-brightest star after Sirius, Canopus is visible in southern skies, shining out of the constellation Carina.
Meet Spica, the Ear of Grain
Meet Spica, the "ear of grain" in the constellation Virgo. This bright star is actually part of a binary orbiting so closely, they tug each other out of spherical shapes and whirl around each other every four days.
Meet Vega, the Jewel of the Lyre
Meet Vega, the fifth-brightest star in the night sky and the most brilliant star in the constellation Lyra. Vega is in the prime of its life on the main sequence, but it's notable for its speedy spin and infrared-radiating debris disk.
Meet Fomalhaut, the Autumn Star
The bright star Fomalhaut, home to three suns plus a planet, peeks over the southern horizon in early autumn evenings in the Northern Hemisphere.
Meet Rigel, Orion's Blue Suede Shoe
The seventh brightest star in the sky, blue-white Rigel shines brilliantly at the left foot of Orion and is actually a trio: a supergiant orbited by a pair of Sun-like stars.
Meet Deneb, the Bright but Distant Star
Deneb, in the constellation Cygnus, is a star that shines brilliantly despite being one of the farthest you can see with the unaided eye.
Meet Pollux, the Red Giant with a Planet
Meet the stars: Pollux, one of the Twins in the sky, is a star that has swelled into its red giant phase while holding onto its Jupiter-like exoplanet, dubbed Thestias.
Meet Regulus, Little King of the Ecliptic
Meet Regulus A, dubbed "Little King" and "Heart of the Lion," among the 25 brightest stars in the sky. The star belongs to a complex system, including a close white dwarf companion that makes its ultimate fate uncertain.
Meet Betelgeuse, the Red Giant of Orion
Betelgeuse, the brilliant red star at the right shoulder of Orion, is a supergiant whose girth extends out to the orbit of Jupiter.
Meet Polaris, the North Star
Meet the brightest stars near Earth. Next up: Polaris, the North Star, the star within a degree of the north celestial pole.
