- 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 temperature is about 9,300 degrees Celsius.
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.