- Stars with a name
- Alsafi
Alsafi
σ Draconis
Alsafi is an orange star, in the constellation Draco. The light you see from it tonight left it around 2007.
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 only under a dark sky, away from town. Apparent magnitude 4.67.
What it’s like
It gives off about 39% of the Sun’s light.
Its surface is at about 5,300 degrees.
It is 18.8 light years away: 178 trillion kilometres.
It is the star of people born around 2007: the light that left it then is reaching Earth now.