#3219: Planets and Bright Stars

XKCD comic, described below.
Transcript

[An array of four columns and three rows of white dots are displayed on a black background. Above them there is caption in white text. Below each white dot there is a label in white. The dots are almost identical, slightly fuzzy and 'white'. There may be a slight color hue to some of the dots, and very minor differences in size, but it is not clearly visible.]

[Caption text:] Planets and Bright Stars identification chart

[Dot labels, in reading order:]

[Top row:]   Venus     Mars     Jupiter     Saturn

[Middle row:]   Mercury     Sirius     Procyon     Antares

[Bottom row:]   Altair     Betelgeuse     Vega     Polaris

(Sourced from explainxkcd.com)

An old astronomer trick for distinguishing the Sun from other stars is to take multiple photos a few minutes apart and overlay them, making the Sun stand out due to its high proper motion.

ExplainOriginal