Mizar

HR 5054 · HIP 65378 · ζ UMa

👁️ Naked-eye

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

Star

Apparent magnitude: 2.23 mag
Parallax: 38.01 mas → about 85.8 light-years away
Spectral type: A2V
Right ascension: 200.9809°
Declination: 54.9254°
Bayer designation: ζ UMa
HIP number: 65378
IAU name adopted: 2016-06-30
Name language: Arabic
Name origin (IAU): Ultimately from the Arabic word al-maraqq, "the Groin," used in the Arabic Almagest in describing β UMa. Correct transliterations of almaraqq in the Medieval Latin Almagest were mirac and mirach. However, Early Modern scholars confused these words with the Arabic word mi'zar, which had equally been transliterated and corrupted in Latin as mirac, mirach, etc. Subsequently the mistaken mi'zar, written as "Mizar," was applied as a star name to β UMa, and it became transferred to ζ UMa in late Early Modern times.

Constellation

Light from this object takes about 86 years to reach Earth — the light you see tonight left around AD 1940 (official distance ÷ speed of light).
At magnitude 2.2 it is bright enough for the naked eye (limit about 6) — look from somewhere dark.
Declination 54.9° — from Seoul (37.6° N) it never sets and circles the northern sky all night.

Worked out from this object's official values.