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Canopus (Alpha Carinae) located in the constellation Carina is a yellowish-white supergiant 313 light-years away, that is 65 times the size of our own sun. At -0.72 magnitude, it is also the second brightest star in the night sky, second only to Sirius (-1.46), but lies so far south that it is invisible from latitudes north of 37 degrees, including most of Europe and the United States. From the Southern Hemisphere, however, both Sirius and Canopus can be seen high in the celestial heavens, like twin beacons illuminating the night sky.

Polaris is a yellow-white supergiant star located around 430 light-years away in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is has an apparent magnitude of 1.97, making it the 48th brightest star in the sky, and can easily be found by locating the Big Dipper, and using the stars in its “bowl”, Dubhe and Merak, to point to Polaris. Also known as the North Star, or Polestar, it lies within one degree of the North Pole’s axis as seen from Earth. If you were standing at the North Pole you would have to look directly up to see it.

UY Scuti is a red supergiant star located in the constellation Scutum. It is one of the largest known stars, discovered since 1860. UY Scuti was discovered by German astronomers at the Bonn Observatory in 1860. However, the star was better documented in 2012 with the help of greater technological equipment. Data revealed that UY Scuti was around 7 to 10 times more massive than our Sun, and had a radius approximately 1.700 times larger. UY Scuti is located in or galaxy the Milky Way, at about 5.219 light-years away from Earth.