Star
Mirfak
Yellow-white star · F5Ib
α Persei · Perseus
Shown in its true colour — like most stars, it is too far away to photograph as more than a point of light.
Alpha Persei, formally named Mirfak, is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Perseus, outshining the constellation's best-known star, Algol. Alpha Persei has an apparent visual magnitude of 1.8, and is a circumpolar star when viewed from mid-northern latitudes.
Description from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
~506 light-years
Apparent mag.
+1.79
Spectral type
F5Ib
Luminosity
4,040 × Sun
Absolute mag.
−4.17
Catalogue
HIP 15863
Spectral type
F5Ib
True colour from its B–V index (0.48): a surface around 6500 K.
Did you know
- Mirfak is also known as α Persei.
- Its spectral type F5Ib marks it as a yellow-white star.
- It lies in the constellation Perseus.
