Boötes

Constellation of the northern hemisphere represented by a herdsman driving a bear (Ursa Major) around the pole. Its brightest star is Arcturus (or Alpha Boötis), which is 36 light years from Earth. The herdsman is assisted by the neighbouring Canes Venatici, ‘the Hunting Dogs’.

Epsilon Boötis, a double star with blue and yellow components, was called ‘Pulcherrima’ (most beautiful) by Russian astronomer Freidrich George Wilhelm Struve and was used by German-born British astronomer William Herschel in an unsuccessful attempt to determine a stellar distance.