Alkaid

chart

random

Marcel Duchamp

star of

Ursa Major

STARS by Jim Kaler

Alkaid (stars.astro.illinois.edu) ALKAID (Eta Ursae Majoris). Though the name may not be so well known as those of the first magnitude stars, the star itself certainly is, as Alkaid is the end star in the handle of the Big Dipper, the great asterism that makes most of the grand constellation of Ursa Major, the Greater Bear.

tagged

By following the curve of the handle from Alioth (ε) to Mizar (ζ) to Alkaid (η), one reaches Arcturus (α Boötis) and Spica (α Virginis). A mnemonic for this is “Arc to Arcturus then speed (or spike) to Spica.”
Five of the stars of the Big Dipper are at the core of the Ursa Major Moving Group. The two at the ends, Dubhe and Alkaid, are not part of the swarm, and are moving in the opposite direction.
Mizar’s and Alcor’s proper motions show they move together, along with most of the other stars of the Big Dipper except Dubhe and Alkaid, as members of the Ursa Major Moving Group, a mostly dispersed group of stars sharing a common birth.

tags

star

Wikidata

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13093

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaid