Image: Sirius A and B Hubble photo

Description: This Hubble Space Telescope image shows Sirius A, the brightest star in our nighttime sky, along with its faint, tiny stellar companion, Sirius B. Astronomers overexposed the image of Sirius A [at centre] so that the dim Sirius B [tiny dot at lower left] could be seen. The cross-shaped diffraction spikes and concentric rings around A*, and the small ring around Sirius B, are artifacts produced within the telescope's imaging system. The two stars revolve around each other every 50 years. Sirius A, only 8.6 light-years from Earth, is the fifth closest star system known. The image was taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2.
Title: Sirius A and B Hubble photo
Credit: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0516a/
Author: NASA, ESA, H. Bond (STScI), and M. Barstow (University of Leicester)
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
License: CC BY 3.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Attribution Required?: Yes