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Arcturus
star
- Also called:
- Alpha Boötis
- On the Web:
- IOPscience - The Extragalactic Origin of the Arcturus Group (PDF) (Dec. 30, 2024)
Arcturus, the fourth brightest star in the night sky, and the brightest star in the northern constellation Boötes, with an apparent visual magnitude of −0.05. It is an orange-coloured giant star 36.7 light-years from Earth. It lies in an almost direct line with the tail of Ursa Major (the Great Bear); hence its name, derived from the Greek words for “bear guard.”