Star profile

Kochab

Beta Ursae Minoris · Ursa Minor

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

What is Kochab

Kochab is an orange giant in Ursa Minor, second in brightness after Polaris and separated from it by barely a fist held at arm's length. Three thousand years ago, when Egyptian priests aligned temples to the celestial north, it was Kochab —not Polaris— that marked the pole. The precession of the equinoxes has shifted it with geological patience; it is still there, 131 light-years away, awaiting its next turn twelve thousand years from now.

Where it is and when to see it

Kochab 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: 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 Kochab

Constellation: Ursa Minor
Apparent magnitude: 2.07
Distance: 131.0 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 222.677° · Dec 74.156°
Catalogue: HIP 72607 · HD 131873

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 Minor

Ursa Minor has 25 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 25 stars in Ursa Minor