Star profile

Alkaid

Eta Ursae Majoris · Ursa Major

Hot blue star

3D likeness based on its real data · class B · ~15,000 K

What is Alkaid

Alkaid closes the handle of the Big Dipper, the last sentinel of the seven-star procession that has guided generations toward the north. Its name, from the Arabic «al-qā'id», means «the leader» — or, in the older reading, «the chief of the mourners» in the funeral cortege medieval imagination saw in the constellation. A hot blue-white youngster 104 light-years away, it burns with the clean fury of a B-class star.

Where it is and when to see it

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

From London it never sets and culminates about 88° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 81° up.
From Sydney it culminates about 7° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 41° S.

It ranks no. 3 in brightness among the 124 stars of Ursa Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alioth, the brightest: it lies about 10° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 100 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

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Astronomical data for Alkaid

Constellation: Ursa Major
Apparent magnitude: 1.85
Distance: 104.0 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 206.885° · Dec 49.313°
Catalogue: HIP 67301 · HD 120315

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