Star profile

56 Ursae Majoris

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is 56 Ursae Majoris

56 Ursae Majoris is a yellow G-type giant, an elder sibling of the Sun, sitting 533 light-years out in the region of the Bear. If our own Sun aged a few more billion years, it might look like this: swollen, cooler, brighter, already past the peak of its nuclear life. Its light set out in the late fifteenth century, when Columbus's ships had not yet touched land on the far side of the Atlantic.

Where it is and when to see it

56 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 82° up.
From New York it culminates about 87° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 13° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 47° S.

It ranks no. 39 in brightness among the 124 stars of Ursa Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alioth, the brightest: it lies about 19° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 530 years ago.

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Astronomical data for 56 Ursae Majoris

Constellation: Ursa Major
Apparent magnitude: 4.99
Distance: 533.0 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 170.707° · Dec 43.483°
Catalogue: HIP 55560 · HD 98839

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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