Star profile

23 Ursae Majoris

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is 23 Ursae Majoris

23 Ursae Majoris glows in the Great Bear as a yellow-white F-type subgiant some 78 light-years away. Nearly twice as massive as the Sun and fifteen times more luminous, it heads a multiple system —a ninth-magnitude companion orbits at 22 arcseconds, within reach of a modest telescope. The light arriving tonight set out shortly after the first transatlantic radio broadcast.

Where it is and when to see it

23 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 78° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 68° up.
From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 27° S.

It ranks no. 16 in brightness among the 124 stars of Ursa Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alioth, the brightest: it lies about 26° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 78 years ago.

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Astronomical data for 23 Ursae Majoris

Constellation: Ursa Major
Apparent magnitude: 3.65
Distance: 77.7 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 142.882° · Dec 63.062°
Catalogue: HIP 46733 · HD 81937

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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