Star profile

Eta Ursae Minoris

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is Eta Ursae Minoris

Eta Ursae Minoris sits a step away from the pole star, inside the Little Bear, that constellation which for centuries guided sailors and caravans. It is a yellowish-white F-type star 97 light-years away, close enough to count as a neighbour. Its light flickers near the axis of the sky, that fixed point around which the entire firmament wheels, and silently joins the circumpolar ballet that never sets beneath the horizon for northern observers.

Where it is and when to see it

Eta 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 66° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 55° up.
From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 14° S.

It ranks no. 10 in brightness among the 25 stars of Ursa Minor in our catalogue. To find it, start from Polaris, the brightest: it lies about 15° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 97 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Eta Ursae Minoris

Constellation: Ursa Minor
Apparent magnitude: 4.95
Distance: 97.0 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 244.377° · Dec 75.755°
Catalogue: HIP 79822 · HD 148048

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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