Star
The brightest star in the Big Dipper, with an unusual chemically peculiar spectrum.
| Type | Star |
|---|---|
| Distance from Earth | 83 ly |
| Diameter | 5,969,106 km |
| Mass | 5.79 × 10³⁰ kg |
| Temperature | 8,635°C |
| Apparent magnitude | 1.77 |
| Redshift | 0 |
| Hemisphere | Northern |
| Discovered | 150 |
Stars spend most of their lives fusing hydrogen into helium in their core, and it's the balance between that outward pressure and gravity pulling inward that fixes how big and how bright a star gets.
At 5,969,106 km across, Alioth is 4.3 times the diameter of the Sun.
Its mass is 2.9 times the mass of the Sun.
The light reaching us from Alioth tonight left it around 83 years ago.
Its surface sits at 8,908 K, hotter than the Sun at 5,772 K, which is what sets its colour.
It has been on record since the year 150.
Play today's Cosmodle