Dubhe
Where is Dubhe?
Look northeast, about 45° up at 05:17 in Ursa Major.
- Rises
- Always up
- Highest
- 11:05
- Sets
- Never
- Best after dark
- 05:17 · 45°
Can I see Dubhe tonight?
From London tonight, Dubhe is above the horizon all night. It’s highest just before dawn, around 05:17, in the northeast at 45°.
At magnitude 1.8 it is one of the brighter points in the sky, easy to see by eye when it’s clear.
This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.
What does Dubhe look like?
Dubhe looks orange to the eye. Its spectral type is G9III+A7.5: yellow giant (similar in temperature to the Sun).
Eyes
A bright, slightly orange star at the top corner of the Big Dipper’s bowl, farthest from the handle.
Binoculars
Its orange tint is easier to see compared with white Merak.
Telescope
A single orange point.
About Dubhe
Dubhe is the brightest star in the Big Dipper and one of the two Pointers that lead to Polaris, the North Star. It is an orange giant about 120 light-years away.
Unlike most of the Big Dipper’s stars, which move together through space, Dubhe isn’t part of that group, so over many thousands of years the Dipper’s shape will slowly change.
Dubhe is a multiple star system. The orange giant has a close companion that orbits it every 44 years, and a more distant pair of stars is also associated with it.
Its name comes from the Arabic for “bear”. In the United Kingdom, the Big Dipper is called the Plough.
From most of the Northern Hemisphere, the Big Dipper never sets. It swings around Polaris through the night and through the seasons, riding high overhead on spring evenings and sitting low in the north on autumn evenings.
Dubhe in Ursa Major
Questions
What are the Pointers?
Sources: SkyMate; Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences