Phi Ursae Majoris, Latinized from φ Ursae Majoris, is a

binary star A binary star or binary star system is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved as separate stars us ...

system in the

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

Ursa Major Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation in the Northern Sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means "greater (or larger) bear", referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa M ...

. It is white-hued and is visible to the naked eye with a combined

apparent visual magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction of the object's light ca ...

of +4.60; the primary is magnitude 5.28 while the secondary is magnitude 5.39. The system is located at a distance of approximately from the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

based on

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different sightline, lines of sight and is measured by the angle or half-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to perspective (graphica ...

, but is drifting closer with a

radial velocity The radial velocity or line-of-sight velocity of a target with respect to an observer is the rate of change of the vector displacement between the two points. It is formulated as the vector projection of the target-observer relative velocity ...

of −14.7 km/s. It should make its closest approach at a distance of around in about 4.7 million years. As of 2017, the components had an

angular separation Angular distance or angular separation is the measure of the angle between the orientation of two straight lines, rays, or vectors in three-dimensional space, or the central angle subtended by the radii through two points on a sphere. When t ...

of along a

position angle In astronomy, position angle (usually abbreviated PA) is the convention for measuring angles on the sky. The International Astronomical Union defines it as the angle measured relative to the Celestial pole, north celestial pole (NCP), turning pos ...

of 304°. They are orbiting each other with a

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

of 105.4 years and

eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...

of 0.44. Both of components are A-type

subgiant A subgiant is a star that is brighter than a normal main-sequence star of the same spectral class, but not as bright as giant stars. The term subgiant is applied both to a particular spectral luminosity class and to a stage in the evolution ...

stars with a

stellar classification In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their stellar spectrum, spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a Prism (optics), prism or diffraction gratin ...

of A3 IV. Phi Ursae Majoris is moving through the galaxy at a speed of 21.6 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected galactic orbit carries it between 24,000 and 46,000 light-years from the center of the galaxy.

Naming

With τ, h, υ, θ, e, and f, it composed the Arabic asterism ''Sarīr Banāt al-Na'sh'', the Throne of the daughters of ''Na'sh'', and ''Al-Haud'', the Pond. According to the catalogue of stars in the ''Technical Memorandum 33-507 - A Reduced Star Catalog Containing 537 Named Stars'', ''Al-Haud'' were the title for seven stars: f as ''Alhaud I'', τ as ''Alhaud II'', e as ''Alhaud III'', h as ''Alhaud IV'', θ as ''Alhaud V'', υ as ''Alhaud VI'' and this star (φ) as ''Alhaud VII''. In

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

, (), meaning ''

Administrative Center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

'', refers to an asterism consisting of φ Ursae Majoris, υ Ursae Majoris,

θ Ursae Majoris Theta Ursae Majoris (Theta UMa, θ Ursae Majoris, θ UMa) is a suspected spectroscopic binary star system in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.17, placing it amon ...

15 Ursae Majoris 15 Ursae Majoris is a star in the Northern celestial hemisphere, northern circumpolar constellation Ursa Major, located 94 light-years away from the Sun. It has the Bayer designation f Ursae Majoris; ''15 Ursae Majoris'' is the Fla ...

and 18 Ursae Majoris. Consequently, the

Chinese name Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethni ...

for φ Ursae Majoris itself is known as (, ).

References

{{Stars of Ursa Major A-type subgiants Binary stars Ursa Major Ursae Majoris, Phi Ursae Majoris, 30 Durchmusterung objects 085235 048402 3894 Alhaud VII