Orbital
Distance

(a=AUs)
Orbital
Period

(P=years)
Orbital
Eccentricity

(e)
Orbital
Inclination

(i=degrees)

Mass

(Earths)

Diameter

(Earths)

Density

(Earths)
Surface
Gravity

(Earths)

Metallicity
(Solar)
AB Mass Center0.0........................
Sirius A6.4350.10.592136.5706,000183......1-7.4
Disrupted H.Z.?4.766.80136.5...............
Sirius B13.450.10.592136.5341,0000.84......1-7.4


NOTE: This animation attempts to relate the possible orbits of Sirius AB (and a possibly disrupted habitable zone around Sirius A) to their common center of mass. The initial display does not show the system's actual orbital tilt (at an inclination of 136.5°) from the visual perspective of an observer on Earth. Indeed, the orbital inclination of any planet that may be discovered some day around Star A would likely be different from that of the habitable zone orbit depicted here.

Sirius A and B form a close binary separated "on average" by only about 19.8 AUs of an orbital semi-major axis -- which is about the same as the distance between Uranus and our Sun ("Sol"). The companion star, is a white dwarf, stellar remnant and is so dim that it cannot be perceived with the naked eye. The distance separating Sirius A from its companion varies between 8.1 and 31.5 AUs as the two swing around in a highly eccentric orbit (e= 0.59) that takes 50.1 years to complete (Willem Henrik van den Bos, 1960).


 

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