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: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.

Find it on the sky map

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The signature wall

Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works

If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.

Write my signature

A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.

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