Star profile

38 Ursae Majoris

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

What is 38 Ursae Majoris

38 Ursae Majoris is an orange K-type giant about 227 light-years away, kindled within the domain of the Great Bear. Its temperate surface gives it a warm tone that stands out among the white stars tracing the Plough. The light passing through the telescope glass tonight set out in the late eighteenth century, while William Herschel was building his giant reflectors in England: a journey of more than two centuries to surface in the northern circumpolar sky.

Where it is and when to see it

38 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 76° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 65° up.
From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 24° S.

It ranks no. 46 in brightness among the 124 stars of Ursa Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alioth, the brightest: it lies about 18° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 230 years ago.

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Astronomical data for 38 Ursae Majoris

Constellation: Ursa Major
Apparent magnitude: 5.12
Distance: 226.8 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 160.486° · Dec 65.716°
Catalogue: HIP 52353 · HD 92424

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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