Star profile

Psi Ursae Majoris

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

What is Psi Ursae Majoris

Psi Ursae Majoris is an orange K-type giant burning some 144 light-years away, marking one of the strides of the ancient «leap of the gazelle» asterism that Arab astronomers traced across the legs of the Great Bear. Its calm, golden light travels from a star that has long since exhausted core hydrogen and swollen its envelope far beyond the Sun's size.

Where it is and when to see it

Psi 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 February, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it never sets and culminates about 83° up.
From New York it culminates about 86° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 12° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 46° S.

It ranks no. 7 in brightness among the 124 stars of Ursa Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alioth, the brightest: it lies about 20° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 140 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Psi Ursae Majoris

Constellation: Ursa Major
Apparent magnitude: 3.00
Distance: 144.5 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 167.416° · Dec 44.498°
Catalogue: HIP 54539 · HD 96833

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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