Sky of Your Day
  1. Stars with a name
  2. Diadem

Diadem

α Comae Berenices

Diadem is a yellow-white star, in the constellation Coma Berenices. The light you see from it tonight left it around 1968.

Where to find it

From mid-northern latitudes, such as New York, Rome or Tokyo, it is best seen in the evening sky in March, April, May, June, and July.

Visible to the naked eye away from the brightest lights. Apparent magnitude 4.32.

What it’s like

It gives off 5.2 times as much light as the Sun.

Its surface is at about 6,600 degrees.

It is 58.1 light years away: 550 trillion kilometres.

It is the star of people born around 1968: the light that left it then is reaching Earth now.