Star profile

Alkaphrah

Kappa Ursae Majoris · Ursa Major

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is Alkaphrah

Alkaphrah, white and unassuming, shines at 358 light-years from the Earth in the rich constellation Ursa Major, far from the attention given to its more spectacular neighbours of the Big Dipper. Its Arabic name translates roughly as «the leap»: it belongs to an old group of stars that Islamic astronomers pictured as gazelles bounding across the sky, startled by a silent hunt unfolding among the constellations. It is a faint glow, enough to locate it on a dark night without the help of any instrument, too modest to catch the eye of anyone not actually looking.

Where it is and when to see it

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

From London it never sets and culminates about 86° up.
From New York it culminates about 84° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 9° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 43° S.

It ranks no. 15 in brightness among the 124 stars of Ursa Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alioth, the brightest: it lies about 36° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 360 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Alkaphrah

Constellation: Ursa Major
Apparent magnitude: 3.57
Distance: 358.5 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 135.906° · Dec 47.157°
Catalogue: HIP 44471 · HD 77327

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Other stars in Ursa Major

Ursa Major has 124 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 124 stars in Ursa Major