Star profile

Phi Ursae Majoris

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

What is Phi Ursae Majoris

Phi Ursae Majoris lodges within the body of the Great Bear, away from the Big Dipper's curve but inside the full silhouette of the ancient celestial plantigrade. It is a white A-type star some 509 light-years away, hotter and more luminous than the Sun. Its subdued glow weaves through the stars that sketch the animal's foreleg, where the trained eye finds the forgotten outline of the constellation entire.

Where it is and when to see it

Phi 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 87° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 77° up.
From Sydney it culminates about 2° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 36° S.

It ranks no. 25 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 510 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Phi Ursae Majoris

Constellation: Ursa Major
Apparent magnitude: 4.55
Distance: 508.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 148.026° · Dec 54.064°
Catalogue: HIP 48402 · HD 85235

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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