Star profile

HIP 51658

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

What is HIP 51658

In Ursa Major, that familiar figure that has guided travellers since before writing, shines an A-type white star. Its light set out one hundred and thirteen years ago, when Europe was still tentatively entering the age of electricity and the first automobiles crossed cobbled streets. Hotter and more luminous than the Sun, it gives off that sharp, clean glow characteristic of stellar youth. It is part of the quiet lattice that sustains the Plough, present every night for those who know how to look.

Where it is and when to see it

HIP 51658 lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is February, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it never sets and culminates about 79° up.
From New York it culminates about 90° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 16° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 50° S.

It ranks no. 30 in brightness among the 124 stars of Ursa Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alioth, the brightest: it lies about 28° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 110 years ago.

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Astronomical data for HIP 51658

Constellation: Ursa Major
Apparent magnitude: 4.72
Distance: 113.0 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 158.308° · Dec 40.426°
Catalogue: HIP 51658 · HD 91312

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

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