Beta Ursae Majoris
Sign in to saveAlso known as Merak, 48 Ursae Majoris, HD 95418, The Celestial Rotating Jade, 48 UMa, β UMa, β Ursae Majoris, NSV 5053
star in constellation of Ursa Major
Key facts
- Constellation
- Ursa Major
- Right ascension
- 11 01 50.47654
- Declination
- +56 ° 22 ′ 56.7339 ″
- Apparent magnitude v
- +2.37
- Evolutionary stage
- Main sequence
- Spectral type
- A1IVps
- U b color index
- +0.00
- Variable type
- Suspected
via Wikipedia infobox
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Size comparison between the Sun, Beta Ursae Majoris, Pollux, and Arcturus. Merak /ˈmɪəræk/, also called Beta Ursae Majoris (β Ursae Majoris, abbreviated Beta UMa, β UMa), is a star in the northern constellation of Ursa Major.
The apparent visual magnitude of this star is +2.37, which means it is readily visible to the naked eye. It is more familiar to Northern Hemisphere observers as one of the "pointer stars" in the Big Dipper, or the Plough (UK), which is a prominent asterism of seven stars that forms part of the larger constellation. Extending an imaginary straight line from this star through the nearby Alpha Ursae Majoris (Dubhe) extends to Polaris, the north star.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Beta Ursae Majoris” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.