Star profile

Delta Boötis

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

What is Delta Boötis

Delta Boötis, called Princeps in old charts, is a yellow giant eleven times the Sun's radius that has exhausted the hydrogen at its core. Beside it, separated by some 3,800 astronomical units, glows a faint magnitude-7.8 companion visible through binoculars: a shared journey in slow motion at 122 light-years, where a single orbit could span a hundred thousand human years.

Where it is and when to see it

Delta Boötis 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 culminates about 72° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 83° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 23° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 57° S.

It ranks no. 5 in brightness among the 88 stars of Boötes in our catalogue. To find it, start from Arcturus, the brightest: it lies about 19° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 120 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Delta Boötis

Constellation: Boötes
Apparent magnitude: 3.46
Distance: 121.8 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 228.876° · Dec 33.315°
Catalogue: HIP 74666 · HD 135722

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Other stars in Boötes

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

See all 88 stars in Boötes