Star profile

Menkar

Alpha Ceti · Cetus

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class M · ~3,200 K

What is Menkar

Menkar, Arabic for «the nose», locates the head of Cetus, the sea monster that in Greek myth nearly devours Andromeda chained to the rock. It is a variable red giant 249 light-years from the Earth, its cool glow drifting slowly in brightness without any casual observer ever noticing the change with the unaided eye. To the Greeks of antiquity it marked where the safe waters of the Mediterranean ended and the outer reaches of the deep sea began, that territory from which the ships venturing too far almost never came back.

Where it is and when to see it

Menkar lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is November, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 43° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 53° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 52° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 86° S.

It ranks no. 2 in brightness among the 111 stars of Cetus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Diphda, the brightest: it lies about 41° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 250 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Menkar

Constellation: Cetus
Apparent magnitude: 2.54
Distance: 249.2 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 45.570° · Dec 4.090°
Catalogue: HIP 14135 · HD 18884

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Other stars in Cetus

Cetus has 111 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 111 stars in Cetus