Zet

Binary system

Its story

Zeta-2 Ursae Majoris is Alcor, the small naked-eye companion to Mizar in the handle of the Big Dipper. For centuries it was a classic eye test: splitting the pair was a rite of passage among Turkish, Arab and European peoples. Itself a binary, sitting 79 light-years away, Alcor and Mizar together form one of the most thoroughly studied stellar groupings in the northern sky.

Constellation: Ursa Major
Apparent magnitude: 3.95
Distance: 78.8 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 200.985° · Dec 54.920°
Catalogue: HYG 118887 · HD 116657

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