Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios ("glowing" or "scorcher"). The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris (α CMa). What the naked eye perceives as a single star is actually a binary star system, consisting of a white main-sequence star, termed Sirius A, and a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type, called Sirius B. The distance separating Sirius A from its companion varies between 8.1 and 31.5 AU.