Sections

Catalogues

Show the direction and distance to this object on the Galactic Map.

Proper Name	Pherkad
Bayer Designation	Gamma Ursae Minoris
Flamsteed Number	13 Ursae Minoris
HR (BSC)	5735
HD	137422
Constellation	Ursa Minor
Right Ascension	15h 20m 44s
Declination	+71° 50' 2"
Distance	487 light years 149 parsecs
Magnitude	Apparent: +3.0 Absolute: -2.9
Spectral Class	A3III White Giant
Optimum Visibility	May / June (Usually visible from northern latitudes)
Notes	A relatively hot and young star some fiften times the diameter of the Sun, Pherkad is a white giant star that shows slight but rapid variability, oscillating in brightness over a period of hours. It is classified as a Delta Scuti variable, though it is unusual for that class and may have unique properties of its own.

With Kochab, Pherkad is one of the two northern stars known as the Guardians of the Pole. Pherkad is a pulsing white star (of the Delta Scuti group of variables) nearly five hundred light years from the Solar System. Nearby in the sky is a fainter star known as Pherkad Minor, but this is in fact quite unrelated to Pherkad itself.

v2.1g