Alkaid
Alkaid, also known as Eta Ursae Majoris, is the fourth brightest star in the constellation Ursa Major, which is more commonly known as the Big Dipper. It is a binary star system, with the primary star, Alkaid A, being a blue-white main-sequence star of spectral type B3V. Alkaid A is approximately 100 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 1.86, making it visible to the naked eye.
The secondary star, Alkaid B, is a magnitude 13.3 star that orbits Alkaid A with a period
Alkaid is located at the tip of the handle of the Big Dipper, which is one of
In ancient times, Alkaid was associated with various mythological figures, including the Greek hero Hercules and