Located 8.6 light years away from the solar system, FTP, name this binary star, the brightest in the night sky and largest in the constellation Canis Major, often known as the "dog star".
Its companion, first sighted by Alvan Clark in 1862, was the first white dwarf ever discovered, and the two rotate about each other with a period of about 50 years  and a distance of about 20 astronomical units. Its more common name probably comes from the Greek for "sparkling", although it was known as Sothis to the Egyptians, (*) who used it to calculate the length of the year and for whom its appearance signaled the coming of the annual floods. Located 8.6 light years away from the solar system, FTP, name this binary star, the brightest in the night sky and largest in the constellation Canis Major, often known as the "dog star".
Its companion, first sighted by Alvan Clark in 1862, was the first white dwarf ever discovered, and the two rotate about each other with a period of about 50 years  and a distance of about 20 astronomical units.
{Sirius} (prompt on {Alpha Canis Majoris} or the {Dog Star} early)