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, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it never sets and culminates about 70° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 59° up.
From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 18° S.

It ranks no. 3 in brightness among the 25 stars of Ursa Minor in our catalogue. To find it, start from Polaris, the brightest: it lies about 19° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 490 years ago.

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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