The brightest star in the Milky Way, as seen from Earth, is Sirius. Sirius is a binary star system located in the constellation Canis Major, and it is also known as the "Dog Star." The primary star, Sirius A, is the brightest component of the system and one of the closest stars to us at a distance of about 8.6 light-years. It is significantly more luminous than our Sun, and its apparent magnitude of -1.46 makes it the brightest star in the night sky. The secondary star in the system, Sirius B, is a white dwarf and is much fainter and more difficult to observe due to its small size and proximity to the primary star.