Star
The star at the very end of the Big Dipper's handle, a hot blue-white star only a few million years old.
| Type | Star |
|---|---|
| Distance from Earth | 104 ly |
| Diameter | 4,020,000 km |
| Mass | 1.01 × 10^31 kg |
| Temperature | 16,056°C |
| Apparent magnitude | 1.86 |
| Redshift | 0 |
| Discovered | 150 |
At 4,020,000 km across, Alkaid is 2.9 times the diameter of the Sun.
Its mass is 5.1 times the mass of the Sun.
The light reaching us from Alkaid tonight left it around 104 years ago.
Its surface sits at 16,329 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