A dedicated star
Mirfak
yellow-white · Perseus · α Per
Dedicated to
Daniel Mitchell
by Laura Mitchell · August 14, 2026
“On the anniversary of Daniel's passing, Mirfak is dedicated to his memory. Though deeply missed, his kindness and love continue to shine in the lives of everyone who knew him.”
This dedication
- Dedicated to
- Daniel Mitchell
- Dedicated by
- Laura Mitchell
- Recorded
- August 14, 2026
- Held until
- August 14, 2027
When this dedication ends, Mirfak becomes available again. Want it? Put the date in your calendar.
Mirfak at a glance
- Constellation
- Perseus
- Other name
- α Per
- Catalogue number
- HIP 15863
- Distance
- ≈ 510 light-years
- Brightness
- Magnitude 1.79 naked-eye
- Star type
- F5 Ib
- Colour
- yellow-white
- Best seen from
- The Northern Hemisphere and lower southern latitudes
- Right ascension
- 03h 24m 19s
- Declination
- +49° 51′ 40″
J2000 catalogue coordinates that can be independently cross-checked against astronomical databases. A planetarium app showing coordinates of date will differ slightly, because proper motion and precession move a star’s apparent position over time.
What kind of star is Mirfak?
Mirfak is a yellow-white supergiant. Its surface runs about 6,000 to 7,500°C, a shade hotter than the Sun. Colour in a star is a temperature reading rather than a decoration: the hot ones are blue and the cool ones red, the opposite way round to a kitchen tap.
Its colour is not the whole story. A yellow-white star still in the steady part of its life would burn for two to four thousand million years. This one is past that stage, and it is cool at the surface because it has swollen outward, not because it was born this way.
It is a supergiant, which means it has left the stable part of its life and swollen enormously. Put it where the Sun is and its surface would swallow the inner planets. Stars this size do not fade quietly; this one will end as a supernova, and on a human timescale that could be tonight or in a million years.
The light you are looking at is old
Mirfak is about 510 light years away, so the light reaching you now set out around 1516. You are not looking at the star as it is. You are looking at the star as it was, and there is no way to see it any other way.
That delay is the part people find hardest and like most. A star is the one thing you can give someone that was already old before either of you was born and will outlast anything else you could have chosen.
It is also one of the brighter stars in the sky, which is why it carries a proper name at all rather than a catalogue number.
What does the name Mirfak mean?
The former, meaning 'Elbow' and also written Mirphak, Marfak or Mirzac, comes from the Arabic Mirfaq al-Thurayya, while Algenib, also spelt Algeneb, Elgenab, Gęnib, Chenib or Alchemb, is derived from الجنب al-janb, or الجانب al-jānib, 'the flank' or 'side'.
Name origin from English Wikipedia. AsterNym does not invent an etymology where none is recorded, and most stars in this catalogue have none: they carry modern names, or a catalogue designation and nothing older.
Where can you see Mirfak?
It is easy to see from most of the Northern Hemisphere. It can also appear from lower southern latitudes, but it never rises for observers south of about latitude 40°S. It passes directly overhead at latitude 50°N. It stands highest at midnight in November, so November and December evenings are the best time to look. At magnitude 1.79 it is an easy naked-eye star from any reasonably dark spot.
Mirfak belongs to Perseus, where it is the brightest star.
What does Mirfak mean in astrology?
The classical fixed-star tradition: Ptolemy, the medieval Behenian lists, Robson’s 1923 compilation. Is silent on Mirfak, and we don’t invent lore where none exists. What astrology can still read is the star’s real position, below.
Projected onto the zodiac the way fixed-star astrology reads any star, Mirfak stands at 2° Gemini at the J2000 epoch, and the Sun passes that degree around 22 May in the years around 2000. Fixed-star longitude shifts slowly against the tropical zodiac because of precession, about one degree every seventy-two years, so a natal conjunction must be calculated for the birth year rather than read off this J2000 value or a calendar date.
Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions. The position and dates are computed.
Frequently asked questions about Mirfak
- What does Mirfak mean in astrology?
- The classical fixed-star tradition has no documented meaning for Mirfak. Projected onto the zodiac, Mirfak stands at 2° Gemini, and the Sun passes that degree each year around 22 May.
- Is Mirfak the brightest star?
- Mirfak shines at magnitude 1.79 · visible to the naked eye on a clear night, one of the few thousand stars with an officially recognised name.
- How far away is Mirfak?
- Mirfak is approximately 510 light-years from Earth. The light reaching us tonight began its journey around 510 years ago.
- Which constellation contains Mirfak?
- Mirfak is the brightest star in Perseus.
- Can everyone see Mirfak?
- It is easy to see from most of the Northern Hemisphere. It can also appear from lower southern latitudes, but it never rises for observers south of about latitude 40°S. It passes directly overhead at latitude 50°N. It stands highest at midnight in November, so November and December evenings are the best time to look. At magnitude 1.79 it is an easy naked-eye star from any reasonably dark spot.
- Is dedicating Mirfak an official astronomical renaming?
- No. Mirfak keeps its internationally recognised astronomical name. An AsterNym dedication records your personal name and message in the AsterNym registry without changing the star's scientific identity.
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