Dubhe
HR 4301 · HIP 54061 · α UMa
👁️ Naked-eye
📋 A written introduction is coming — for now this page shows official values only.
Star
- Apparent magnitude
- 1.79 mag
- Parallax
- 26.54 mas → about 122.9 light-years away
- Spectral type
- F7V comp
- Right ascension
- 165.9317°
- Declination
- 61.7509°
- Designation
- HR 4301
- Bayer designation
- α UMa
- HIP number
- 54061
- IAU name adopted
- 2016-06-30
- Name language
- Arabic
- Name origin (IAU)
- Applied in medieval times from the Arabic constellation name al-dubb, "the Bear," for Ursa Major. The spelling in the oldest sources was edubh (corresponding to the Arabic noun with the article al prefixed as e). Afterwards, by corruption, the initial e was transferred to the end of the word: dubhe.
Source:IAU Working Group on Star Names · checked 2026-11-02 ↗ESA Hipparcos Catalogue (ESA Gaia Archive) · checked 2026-11-03 ↗
Related
Constellation
In everyday life
- Light from this object takes about 123 years to reach Earth — the light you see tonight left around AD 1903 (official distance ÷ speed of light).
- At magnitude 1.8 it is bright enough for the naked eye (limit about 6) — look from somewhere dark.
- Declination 61.8° — from Seoul (37.6° N) it never sets and circles the northern sky all night.
Worked out from this object's official values.