Star profile

HIP 47965

Variable star

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

What is HIP 47965

In Ursa Major, some 553 light years away, a variable red M-type giant breathes slowly, tuning its brightness in barely perceptible cycles. Its light began its journey around 1473, before Copernicus had even been born and while the American continent remained unknown to Europe. It is a star far larger than the Sun, cool at the surface yet enormous in volume, caught in that stage of life where the outer layers pulse in time with their own heart. A quiet flame within the bowl of the celestial dipper.

Where it is and when to see it

HIP 47965 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 84° 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. 45 in brightness among the 124 stars of Ursa Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alioth, the brightest: it lies about 25° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 550 years ago.

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Astronomical data for HIP 47965

Constellation: Ursa Major
Apparent magnitude: 5.09
Distance: 552.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 146.632° · Dec 57.128°
Catalogue: HIP 47965 · HD 84335

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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