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Dubhe (α Ursae Majoris) is the second-brightest star in the constellation of Ursa Major. It forms part of the Plough (also known as the Big Dipper), and is the northern-most of the pointers, the two stars of Ursa Major which point towards the Pole Star.
Five stars in the Plough are young hot stars which share a common origin and are moving together through space, but Dubhe is not one of them. Instead, it is an evolved helium-burning star, about 124 light years away. It is a K-type star with a surface temperature of about 4500K, and is approximately 300 times more luminous than the Sun. It is a multiple star, orbited by a main sequence companion at a distance of about 23 astronomical units (AU), as well as another double star at a distance of about 8000AU.
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