Star profile

Nekkar

Beta Boötis · Boötes

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

What is Nekkar

Nekkar is a yellow giant 225 light-years from the Earth, set discreetly at the head of Boötes, just above bright Arcturus. Its name, derived from the Arabic «al-baqqar», simply means «the herdsman», placing in the firmament the everyday figure of the peasant ploughing the land from dawn at the slow pace dictated by his oxen. Its golden light now reaches Europe from a time when the thinkers of the Enlightenment were barely beginning to draft their first encyclopaedias and to dream of a knowledge made accessible to any reader.

Where it is and when to see it

Nekkar 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: 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.

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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 Nekkar

Constellation: Boötes
Apparent magnitude: 3.49
Distance: 225.3 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 225.487° · Dec 40.391°
Catalogue: HIP 73555 · HD 133208

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