Star profile

Merga

38 Boötis · Boötes

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is Merga

Merga is a yellow-white F-type star in Boötes, lying 160 light-years away. Its name comes from the Arabic «Al-Marāqq», «the loin», and some medieval translations also called it «the bound handmaiden». It belongs to the group of fainter stars surrounding the bright Arcturus and completing the outline of the celestial herdsman. The light seen tonight set out when the Lumière brothers had not yet invented cinema: a century and a half of silent travel through the void.

Where it is and when to see it

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

From London it never sets and culminates about 85° up.
From New York it culminates about 85° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 10° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 44° S.

It ranks no. 68 in brightness among the 88 stars of Boötes in our catalogue. To find it, start from Arcturus, the brightest: it lies about 28° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 160 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.

Leave your signature on Merga

Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

Without a lock, someone else can replace your signature. How the lock works

We'll ask for an email to confirm it's you, 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 Merga

Constellation: Boötes
Apparent magnitude: 5.76
Distance: 159.8 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 222.328° · Dec 46.116°
Catalogue: HIP 72487 · HD 130945

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Boötes

Boötes has 88 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 88 stars in Boötes