Merak
Where is Merak?
Look northeast, about 42° up at 05:17 in Ursa Major.
- Rises
- Always up
- Highest
- 11:03
- Sets
- Never
- Best after dark
- 05:17 · 42°
Can I see Merak tonight?
From London tonight, Merak is above the horizon all night. It’s highest just before dawn, around 05:17, in the northeast at 42°.
At magnitude 2.4 it is visible by eye, even from many towns, when the sky is clear.
This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.
What does Merak look like?
Merak looks blue-white to the eye (color is easier to see in binoculars). Its spectral type is A1IVps: white subgiant (hotter than the Sun).
Eyes
A white star at the lower outer corner of the Big Dipper’s bowl.
Binoculars
A white point; compare it with orange Dubhe above.
Telescope
A single point of light. The Owl Nebula and galaxy M108 are nearby.
About Merak
Merak is the bottom outer star of the Big Dipper’s bowl and one of the two Pointers to Polaris. It is a white star about 79 light-years away.
Merak is a member of the Ursa Major Moving Group, a family of stars, including most of the Big Dipper, that formed together and still travel through space as a group.
Merak is about two and a half times the mass of the Sun and roughly 60 times as luminous. Like Vega and Fomalhaut, it shows signs of a surrounding disk of warm dust.
The Ursa Major Moving Group is the nearest star cluster to the Sun. It is a few hundred million years old and has spread so widely across the sky that only the stars at its core are recognizable as the Big Dipper.
Merak’s name comes from the Arabic for “the loins” of the bear.
Merak in Ursa Major
Questions
How do I find Polaris using Merak?
Sources: SkyMate; Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences