Star profile

Pherkad

Gamma Ursae Minoris · Ursa Minor

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is Pherkad

Pherkad is one of the two 'Guardians of the Pole', celestial companion to Kochab as they watch over Polaris from Ursa Minor. White and variable, she lies 487 light-years away: her light departed when the Renaissance was flowering in Italian courts. The name comes from the Arabic «al-farqad», 'the calf'; with Kochab she formed the pair of small bovines grazing beside the axis of the world.

Where it is and when to see it

Pherkad 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.

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Astronomical data for Pherkad

Constellation: Ursa Minor
Apparent magnitude: 3.00
Distance: 486.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 230.182° · Dec 71.834°
Catalogue: HIP 75097 · HD 137422

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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