Yellow bright giant · Ursa Major

Muscida

Also known as: ο Ursae Majoris (ο UMa), HIP 41704

mag 3.4180 light-years

About

Muscida (ο Ursae Majoris) is a yellow bright giant of magnitude 3.4 in Ursa Major, about 180 light-years away.

Muscida is in the constellation Ursa Major.
Best evenings: around mid-March it is highest at about 9 pm (10 pm in summer time); a month earlier, two hours later.
Where on Earth: it is seen well, at least 10° up, from north of 19° S.

When it rises and sets tonight, how high it climbs and how much the Moon gets in the way are worked out in your browser for your place.

EyesVisible from the suburbs on a clear night, but lost in bright city skies.
Binoculars (10×50)A sharp point; binoculars bring out its colour and the fainter stars around it.
Telescope (6–8 inch)Still a point of light at any magnification — stars are too far away to show a disc. Low in the sky, bright stars twinkle and flash colours.

Stars look the same in any instrument: brighter and sharper, but never bigger.

Proper name	Muscida
Designation	ο Ursae Majoris (ο UMa)
Hipparcos number	HIP 41704
Type	Yellow bright giant
Spectral type	G4II-III
Colour	Pale orangeB−V colour index 0.86
Magnitude	3.4The smaller the number, the brighter.
Distance	180 light-yearsThe light you see left it around 1850.
Proper motion	0.17″ per year across the sky
Constellation	Ursa Major
Right ascension (J2000)	08h 30m 16.0s
Declination (J2000)	+60° 43′ 06″