Alderamin

HR 8162 · HIP 105199 · α Cep

👁️ Naked-eye

📋 A written introduction is coming — for now this page shows official values only.

Star

Apparent magnitude: 2.46 mag
Parallax: 66.5 mas → about 49 light-years away
Spectral type: A7IV-V
Right ascension: 319.6449°
Declination: 62.5856°
Designation: HR 8162
Bayer designation: α Cep
HIP number: 105199
IAU name adopted: 2016-07-20
Name language: Arabic
Name origin (IAU): Applied to α Cep since medieval times. The erroneous derivation understood since Early Modern times was from al-dhira (al-)yamin, "the Right Forearm," an assumed Arabic descriptive term for α Cep. Firstly, in the Almagest, α Cep is described on the right "shoulder" (Arabic al-katif or al-mankib) of Cepheus, whereas no right "forearm" (al-dhira<) is described for the figure. Secondly, in Arabic, "right forearm" is spelled correctly as al-dhira al-yumna, which (in contrast to al-yamin) lacks assonance in the last syllable to Alderamin. Therefore, it is more likely that Alderamin is derived from the various medieval Christian abbreviations of muqaddam al-dhira<ain, "the Preceding One of the Two Cubits, or Forearms," which was a name for the Arabic Almagest period (based on pre-Islamic Arabian) for α Gem. This would have been wrongly transferred to α Cep in medieval times.

Constellation

Light from this object takes about 49 years to reach Earth — the light you see tonight left around AD 1977 (official distance ÷ speed of light).
At magnitude 2.5 it is bright enough for the naked eye (limit about 6) — look from somewhere dark.
Declination 62.6° — from Seoul (37.6° N) it never sets and circles the northern sky all night.

Worked out from this object's official values.

HR 8162 · HIP 105199 · α Cep

👁️ Naked-eye

📋 A written introduction is coming — for now this page shows official values only.

Apparent magnitude: 2.46 mag
Parallax: 66.5 mas → about 49 light-years away
Spectral type: A7IV-V
Right ascension: 319.6449°
Declination: 62.5856°
Designation: HR 8162
Bayer designation: α Cep
HIP number: 105199
IAU name adopted: 2016-07-20
Name language: Arabic
Name origin (IAU): Applied to α Cep since medieval times. The erroneous derivation understood since Early Modern times was from al-dhira (al-)yamin, "the Right Forearm," an assumed Arabic descriptive term for α Cep. Firstly, in the Almagest, α Cep is described on the right "shoulder" (Arabic al-katif or al-mankib) of Cepheus, whereas no right "forearm" (al-dhira<) is described for the figure. Secondly, in Arabic, "right forearm" is spelled correctly as al-dhira al-yumna, which (in contrast to al-yamin) lacks assonance in the last syllable to Alderamin. Therefore, it is more likely that Alderamin is derived from the various medieval Christian abbreviations of muqaddam al-dhira<ain, "the Preceding One of the Two Cubits, or Forearms," which was a name for the Arabic Almagest period (based on pre-Islamic Arabian) for α Gem. This would have been wrongly transferred to α Cep in medieval times.

Constellation

Light from this object takes about 49 years to reach Earth — the light you see tonight left around AD 1977 (official distance ÷ speed of light).
At magnitude 2.5 it is bright enough for the naked eye (limit about 6) — look from somewhere dark.
Declination 62.6° — from Seoul (37.6° N) it never sets and circles the northern sky all night.

Worked out from this object's official values.