- Stars with a name
- Phecda
Phecda
γ Ursae Majoris
Phecda is a white star, in the constellation Ursa Major. The light you see from it tonight left it around 1943.
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 2.41.
What it’s like
It gives off 62 times as much light as the Sun.
Its surface is at about 9,600 degrees.
It is 83.2 light years away: 787 trillion kilometres.
It is the star of people born around 1943: the light that left it then is reaching Earth now.