Star profile

Yildun

Delta Ursae Minoris · Ursa Minor

Northern polar star

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

What is Yildun

Yildun is a small white star in the tail of Ursa Minor, very close to Polaris in the asterism's outline. Its name, drawn from the Turkish «yıldız», simply means «star» — a rare case among stellar names of mostly Arabic origin. At 172 light-years, it seems almost to stand guard over the celestial North Pole, that motionless point around which the whole northern sky appears to wheel.

Where it is and when to see it

Yildun lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is December: 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.

Find it on the sky map

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The signature wall

Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works

If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.

Write my signature

A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.

Astronomical data for Yildun

Constellation: Ursa Minor
Apparent magnitude: 4.35
Distance: 172.1 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 263.054° · Dec 86.586°
Catalogue: HIP 85822 · HD 166205

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

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