- 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 is at about 9,700 degrees.
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.