- Stars with a name
- Merak
Merak
β Ursae Majoris
Merak is a white star, in the constellation Ursa Major. The light you see from it tonight left it around 1946.
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.
Bright enough to see even from a city. Apparent magnitude 2.34.
What it’s like
It gives off 60 times as much light as the Sun.
Its surface temperature is about 9,500 degrees Celsius.
It is 79.7 light years away: 754 trillion kilometres.
It is the star of people born around 1946: the light that left it then is reaching Earth now.