Star profile
Mirfak
Alpha Persei · Perseus
Highly luminous starWhat is Mirfak
Mirfak rules Perseus from 506 light-years away, a luminous yellow class-F giant whose brilliance lights up an entire young stellar association around it. Its name comes from the Arabic «Mirfaq al-Thurayya», the elbow of the Pleiades, marking the exact spot where the hero raises his arm in the old sky-drawing. The light reaching us tonight left its atmosphere while Philip II was finishing the Escorial.
Where it is and when to see it
Mirfak 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: 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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A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for Mirfak
- Constellation
- Perseus
- Apparent magnitude
- 1.79
- Distance
- 506.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 51.081° · Dec 49.861°
- Catalogue
- HIP 15863 · HD 20902
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Other stars in Perseus
Perseus has 99 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AlgolBeta Persei2.09
- Zeta Persei2.84
- Epsilon Persei2.90
- Gamma Persei2.91
- Delta Persei3.01
- Rho Persei3.32
- MiramEta Persei3.77
- Nu Persei3.77