This star has an
apparent visual magnitude of +3.45, making it one of the
brighter members of the constellation. The distance to this star has been measured directly using the
parallax technique, which yields a value of roughly with a 4%
margin of error. The
stellar classification of Lambda Ursae Majoris is A2 IV, with the
luminosity class of 'IV' indicating that, after 410 million years on the
main sequence, this star is in the process of
evolving into a
giant star as the supply of hydrogen at its core becomes exhausted. Compared to the Sun it has 240% of the mass and 230% of the Sun's radius, but is radiating 37 times as much luminosity. This energy is being emitted from the star's
outer atmosphere at an
effective temperature of 9,280 K, giving it the characteristic white-hot glow of an
A-type star. ==Nomenclature==