Star profile
Alula Australis B
Xi Ursae Majoris · Ursa Major
Binary systemWhat is Alula Australis B
Alula Australis B is part of a binary system observed by William Herschel in 1780 and was the first true binary whose orbit around its common centre of mass could actually be calculated by astronomers. This component, a yellow G-type star, lies just 34 light-years from here — a near neighbour, dancing silently with its twin every sixty years beneath the foot of the Great Bear.
Where it is and when to see it
Alula Australis B lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is February: 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 Alula Australis B
- Constellation
- Ursa Major
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.80
- Distance
- 34.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 169.547° · Dec 31.529°
- Catalogue
- HYG 118743 · HD 98230
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Ursa Major
Ursa Major has 124 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AliothEpsilon Ursae Majoris1.76
- DubheAlpha Ursae Majoris1.81
- AlkaidEta Ursae Majoris1.85
- HIP 516584.72
- Rho Ursae Majoris4.74
- 55 Ursae Majoris4.76
- Sigma 2 Ursae Majoris4.80
- 18 Ursae Majoris4.80