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All Constellations » Ursa Minor » 

Kochab - β Ursae Minoris (beta Ursae Minoris)

Above the horizon.  Circumpolar today
Alt: 59.64°   Az: 24.51°   Direction: North-North-East

Kochab, also designated as β Ursae Minoris (beta Ursae Minoris), is a variable and double giant star of spectral class K4 in the constellation of Ursa Minor.

Kochab visual magnitude is 2.08, making it the 57th brightest star in the sky. Because of its brightness, Kochab is clearly visible to the naked eye when observed from locations with dark skies, and should be also quite easily visible from light polluted areas.

Image of Kochab - β Ursae Minoris (beta Ursae Minoris) star
DSS2 image of Kochab. The red arrow shows the motion of Kochab during the next 10000 years (-5.17 arcmin in Right Ascension and 2.00 arcmin in declination);

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

14h 50m 39s
+74° 03’ 06”
20h 41m 05s
11h 31m 44s

J2000

14h 50m 42s
+74° 09’ 20”

Galactic Coordinates

112.65°
40.5°

Finder Chart

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Finder chart for Kochab - β Ursae Minoris (beta Ursae Minoris).

Magnitude, Color, Spectral Class

2.08
Giant

-0.86
K4III
3839K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where Kochab is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of Kochab. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Star System Properties

Kochab is a visual double star which can be observed only with the help of very large telescopes. The table below shows key information about the Kochab double sysyem:

2.08
11.28
9.2
209.1 arcsec

Distance, Radial Speed, Proper Motion

Kochab is distant 126.41 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 17 kilometers per second.

38.77
126.41
17 km/s
-0.031 arcsec/y
0.012"/y

Alternative Designations

Kochab
β Ursae Minoris
(beta Ursae Minoris)
7 Ursae Minoris
SAO8102
SAO8102

Visibility from Your Location

Kochab - β Ursae Minoris (beta Ursae Minoris) is circumpolar and transits at 23:03 UTC (altitude: 67.4°)