KOCHAB (Beta Ursae Minoris). Kochab, an obscure Arabic name that might simply mean "star," is just barely the second brightest, and appropriately the Beta, star in Ursa Minor, and represents the top front bowl star of the Little Dipper.
Kochab is a cool, orange K4-III giant star about 190 times as luminous as the sun. This spectral implies an effective temperature of about 3600 K, a mass about 4.4 solar masses and a diameter about 20 times that of the sun.
[8540] beta Ursae Minoris, the second the brightest star in the constellation, is also known as Kochab ("heavenly body" or "star"). Kochab is an orange giant approximately 126 light-years distant from Earth.
Beta Ursae Minoris, Kochab, Kokab, Kochah
2.07
126
* az-kawkab aš-šamāliyy The north star (lit. heavenly body) [named when it was the pole star]
γ
13
Gamma Ursae Minoris, Pherkad, Pherkad Major
3.00
480 ...
The next naked-eye star that served as the Earth's pole star was Kochab in the bowl of the Little Dipper from about 1900 BC to 1100 BC.
At the time of Jesus Christ the vernal equinox had shifted to the constellation Pisces and the star Kochab (in the bowl of the Little Dipper) was the closest bright star to the NCP.
Their names are Kochab and Pherkad. Paul Kunitzsch has been unable to trace the origin of Kochab, but thinks that it may come from the Arabic word kaukab meaning ‘star'.
Today we know them as Kochab, in the bowl of the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor), and Mizar, in the middle of the handle of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major).
Named stars: Alpha UMi (Polaris/Alrukaba), Beta UMi (Kochab), Gamma UMi (Pherkad)
Info: Polaris, the brightest star of Ursa Minor, is the North Star or Pole Star, the star closest to the north celestial pole.
Vela (Sails, formerly Argo Navis) ...
Alifa al Farkadain (ζ UMi), Kochab (β UMi), Pherkad (γ UMi), Polaris (Pole Star, α UMi), Yildun (δUMi).
Constellations adjoining Ursa Minor: Camelopardalis, Cepheus, Draco.
Kaus Media Delta Sagittarii
Keid Omicron-2 Eridani
Kitalpha Alpha Equulei
Kleeia Delta-3 Tauri
Kochab Beta Ursae Minoris
Kornephoros Beta Herculis
Kraz Beta Corvi
Ksora Delta Cassiopeiae
Kullat Nunu Eta Piscium
Kuma Nu Draconis ...
at Giza and Stonehenge were being constructed, the Earth's north pole pointed near the star Thuban, in Draco. 2000 years ago, the north celestial pole will have been some 12 degrees from Polaris and the nearest bright star will have been Kochab (in ...
Only in the central region of the celestial north pole Ursa Minor is neighboured to Cepheus and Camelopardalis.
The stars beta UMi, Kochab (arab. "pole star"), and gamma UMi, Pherkad, ...
 See also: Star, Polaris, Constellation, Ursa Minor, Earth
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