Canis Major
Canis Major is a prominent constellation because of its many bright stars. These include Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris), the brightest star in the night sky, as well as three other stars above magnitude 2.0. Furthermore, two other stars are thought to have previously outshone all others in the night sky—Adhara (Epsilon Canis Majoris) shone at -3.99 around 4.7 million years ago, and Mirzam (Beta Canis Majoris) peaked at −3.65 around 4.42 million years ago. Another, NR Canis Majoris, will be brightest at magnitude −0.88 in about 2.87 million years' time.
R136a1
At around , R136a1 is the most luminous star known, radiating more energy in four seconds than the Sun does in a year. If it replaced the Sun in the Solar System, it would outshine the Sun by 94,000 times (M = −7.6) and would appear from Earth at magnitude −39. Its brightness at a distance of 10 parsecs, the absolute visual magnitude, is −7.6, three magnitudes brighter than Venus ever appears from Earth. Its brightness at the distance of the nearest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri (just over a parsec), would be about the same as the full Moon.