Star profile
Alrakis
Mu Draco · Draco
What is Alrakis
Alrakis comes from the Arabic 'al-raqis', 'the dancer', perhaps named for the wavering brightness that ancient astronomers thought they perceived in it during the long northern nights. It belongs to the circumpolar Draco, one of the longest constellations in the northern sky, as a yellow-white F-type star some 76 light-years away. The light crossing the northern sky tonight set out around 1950, the year the world's first commercial computer was switched on.
Where it is and when to see it
Alrakis lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is May: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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Astronomical data for Alrakis
- Constellation
- Draco
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.63
- Distance
- 75.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 256.331° · Dec 54.469°
- Catalogue
- HYG 119127 · HD 154906
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Draco
Draco has 122 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- EltaninGamma Draco2.24
- AthebyneEta Draco2.73
- RastabanBeta Draco2.79
- HIP 841835.54
- HIP 1002615.59
- HIP 929695.62
- HIP 852905.65
- HIP 906475.65