Star profile

17 Ursae Majoris

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is 17 Ursae Majoris

17 Ursae Majoris is a variable K-type giant, long past the main sequence, set far from the bright stars of the Great Bear at 720 light-years. Its modest magnitude of 5.28 calls for a dark sky to be picked out. It approaches the Solar System at 30 km per second, a warm light that left when Renaissance humanists were drafting their first European treatises.

Where it is and when to see it

17 Ursae Majoris 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 85° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 74° up.
From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 33° S.

It ranks no. 56 in brightness among the 124 stars of Ursa Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alioth, the brightest: it lies about 29° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 720 years ago.

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Astronomical data for 17 Ursae Majoris

Constellation: Ursa Major
Apparent magnitude: 5.28
Distance: 720.1 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 138.957° · Dec 56.741°
Catalogue: HIP 45455 · HD 79354

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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