- Stars with a name
- Alcor
Alcor
80 Ursae Majoris
Alcor is a white star, in the constellation Ursa Major. The light you see from it tonight left it around 1944.
Where to find it
From mid-northern latitudes, such as New York, Rome or Tokyo, it never sets: it circles the pole all night, all year.
Visible to the naked eye away from the brightest lights. Apparent magnitude 3.99.
What it’s like
It gives off 14 times as much light as the Sun.
Its surface is at about 8,400 degrees.
It is 81.7 light years away: 773 trillion kilometres.
It is the star of people born around 1944: the light that left it then is reaching Earth now.