Constellation, Herdsman
Boötes
The herdsman who drives the bear around the pole. Its bright orange star Arcturus means bear guard.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Boötes rises at 6:05 AM, is highest at 2:03 PM (78° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 9:56 PM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Boötes. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
The name Boötes probably comes from a Greek word for noisy or clamorous, after a herdsman shouting at his animals, or perhaps from a word for an ox-driver. He seems to follow the Great Bear around the north pole, and his other Greek name, Arctophylax, means bear watcher. Greek myths give him several identities. In one he is Arcas, son of Zeus and Callisto, who nearly killed his mother after she was turned into a bear, before Zeus placed them both in the sky. In another, told by Hyginus, he is Icarius, a farmer who learned winemaking from Dionysus and was killed by shepherds who thought his wine had poisoned them.
Arcturus takes its name from a Greek phrase meaning bear guard. Ptolemy’s figure holds a club or staff, and later maps added the leash of the hunting dogs of Canes Venatici. In 1795 Jérôme Lalande made a small figure, Quadrans Muralis, the mural quadrant, between the head of Boötes and Draco. It has been dropped, but the Quadrantid meteor shower of early January keeps its name.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Boötes
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcturus | α Boo | -0.05 | 37 light-years |
| Izar | ε Boo | 2.35 | 203 light-years |
| Muphrid | η Boo | 2.68 | 37 light-years |
| Seginus | γ Boo | 3.04 | 87 light-years |
| Qigong | δ Boo | 3.46 | 122 light-years |
| Nekkar | β Boo | 3.49 | 225 light-years |
| Kalasungsang | ρ Boo | 3.57 | 160 light-years |
| ζ Boo | ζ Boo | 3.78 | 176 light-years |
| θ Boo | θ Boo | 4.04 | 47 light-years |
| υ Boo | υ Boo | 4.05 | 264 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 909 square degrees (13 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Boo |
| Sky | Northern sky |
| Origin | Listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest, about AD 150, from older Greek tradition |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 31 |
| Centre (J2000) | 14.6 h, 29° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
No deep-sky object brighter than magnitude 9.
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.