Star profile

Zeta Ursae Minoris

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

What is Zeta Ursae Minoris

Zeta Ursae Minoris sits at the northwest corner of the Little Dipper's bowl, closest to the handle. It is a white main-sequence star, young at just 180 million years, surrounded by a cold dust disk detected in the infrared at roughly 42 astronomical units. The light arriving tonight set out 369 years ago, when Kepler's telescopes were still a novelty.

Where it is and when to see it

Zeta Ursae Minoris lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is January, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it never sets and culminates about 64° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 53° up.
From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 12° S.

It ranks no. 6 in brightness among the 25 stars of Ursa Minor in our catalogue. To find it, start from Polaris, the brightest: it lies about 13° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 370 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Zeta Ursae Minoris

Constellation: Ursa Minor
Apparent magnitude: 4.29
Distance: 369.0 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 236.014° · Dec 77.794°
Catalogue: HIP 77055 · HD 142105

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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