Alcor
80 UMa (Ursa Major) · Ursa Major
Position (2026)
♍ 16°14' Virgo
Magnitude
3.99
Planetary Nature
Mars (robson)
Robson: Mars. The companion to Mizar in Ursa Major. Traditionally a test of eyesight.
Spectral Type
A5V SB
Appearance
A white spectroscopic binary close to Mizar, historically used as a test of visual acuity
Name Origin
Language
Arabic
Original Form
Al Suhā or Al Khawwār
Meaning
The Overlooked One, the Faint One
80 Ursae Majoris, the faint companion of Mizar. Allen gives Al Suhā (the Overlooked or Neglected One) and Al Khawwār (the Faint One). Used across cultures as a test of visual acuity. In Hindu tradition, the pair represents the sage Vasiṣṭha and his faithful wife Arundhatī, and brides were shown the pair as a symbol of conjugal fidelity.
Known As
Alcor in Astrology
Alcor, the faint companion to Mizar in the Great Bear, carries Mars energy that bestows subtle discernment and the capacity to perceive what others overlook. It grants you attention to fine details and the patience for close, careful examination. The traditional association with testing eyesight reflects a gift for seeing what is hidden in plain sight.
Mythology & History
Alcor, the tiny companion to Mizar in the handle of the Big Dipper, has been used as a test of visual acuity across many cultures. Arab astronomers called it al-Khawwar, 'the faint one,' and the pair of Mizar and Alcor was known as 'the horse and rider.' In ancient Rome, military scouts were reportedly tested for visual fitness by their ability to resolve the two stars. Despite its faintness, Alcor was given its own astrological identity with a Mars nature, suggesting a sharp, testing quality despite apparent insignificance.
Ursa Major Context
Alcor rides close to Mizar in the handle of the Big Dipper, part of Ursa Major. The pair forms one of the most famous optical doubles in the sky, and their proximity has inspired stories of hidden companionship and secret tests across dozens of cultures. In the funerary tradition of the Big Dipper, Alcor may represent a small attendant or weeping child accompanying the mourning daughters along the celestial bier. Its Mars nature combines with its faintness to produce a quality of hidden sharpness.
Learn more about Ursa Major and its stars.
Natal Conjunctions
Find your conjunctions →Alcor Conjunct Sun
Alcor conjunct the Sun produces a personality of subtle discernment and the capacity for perceiving what others overlook. You possess the companion star's quality of being the test of keen vision, and your identity is shaped by the precision of your perception rather than the force of your presence.
Alcor Conjunct Moon
Alcor conjunct the Moon creates emotional instincts of subtly perceptive, keenly discriminating sensitivity. Your feelings detect nuances that others miss entirely, and emotional security comes through the accuracy of your subtle perception.
Alcor Conjunct Mercury
Alcor conjunct Mercury gives a mind of exceptionally subtle discernment and the capacity for detecting information that operates below the threshold of ordinary awareness. You perceive the faint signals others dismiss.
Alcor Conjunct Venus
Alcor conjunct Venus brings subtle, keenly perceptive beauty to love and creative expression. You detect beauty in what others overlook and create with the quality of someone who sees the companion that most eyes miss.
Alcor Conjunct Mars
Alcor conjunct Mars channels assertive energy into subtly perceptive, precisely targeted action. You strike at targets others cannot even see, and your courage lies in acting on perceptions others would dismiss.
Alcor Conjunct Jupiter
Alcor conjunct Jupiter expands subtle perception into broad, philosophically informed discernment. You detect faint patterns operating across large scales that less perceptive observers cannot access.
Alcor Conjunct Saturn
Alcor conjunct Saturn deepens subtle discernment into a lifetime of disciplined, patiently refined perceptive accuracy. Your authority comes from decades of detecting what others consistently overlook.
Alcor Conjunct Uranus
Alcor conjunct Uranus brings sudden, startling perceptions of what was hidden in plain sight. You see the companion that others assumed was invisible.
Alcor Conjunct Neptune
Alcor conjunct Neptune refines subtle perception to its most transparent, almost supernaturally discerning expression. You perceive at frequencies that ordinary awareness cannot access.
Alcor Conjunct Pluto
Alcor conjunct Pluto transforms subtle perception into the capacity for detecting the most fundamentally hidden, transformatively significant signals.
Alcor Conjunct North Node
Alcor conjunct the North Node orients destiny toward developing the subtle, keenly perceptive discernment that sees what ordinary awareness overlooks.
Alcor Conjunct Ascendant
Alcor on the Ascendant gives a subtly perceptive, keenly discriminating presence. Others may initially overlook you, as they overlook the companion star, but your perceptive accuracy proves indispensable.
Alcor Conjunct Midheaven
Alcor on the Midheaven builds a career through subtle professional discernment and the capacity for detecting what other professionals miss. Recognition comes for the precision of your overlooked but essential perception.
Paran Interpretations
Parans describe what happens when Alcor and a planet simultaneously occupy the four angles (rising, culminating, setting, nadir) at a given location.
Alcor in Paran with Sun
Rising
Alcor rising with the Sun marks someone who enters life with subtle perceptive gifts and the capacity for keen discernment.
Culminating
Alcor culminating with the Sun places subtle, keenly perceptive discernment at the peak of public achievement.
Setting
Alcor setting with the Sun suggests a legacy of subtle perception and overlooked-but-essential contributions honored in retrospect.
At the Nadir
Alcor at the nadir with the Sun reveals deeply private reserves of subtle perception that silently guide all outward discernment.
Alcor in Paran with Moon
Rising
Alcor rising with the Moon instills early emotional subtlety and the instinct for detecting what others miss.
Culminating
Alcor culminating with the Moon brings subtly perceptive emotional awareness to its most publicly effective form.
Setting
Alcor setting with the Moon indicates emotional subtlety that grows more keenly perceptive with experience.
At the Nadir
Alcor at the nadir with the Moon conceals remarkable emotional perceptive subtlety beneath composed, watchful surfaces.
Alcor in Paran with Mercury
Rising
Alcor rising with Mercury bestows exceptional early subtle analytical discernment and talent for detecting faint signals.
Culminating
Alcor culminating with Mercury elevates subtly discerning, keenly perceptive thinking to professional distinction.
Setting
Alcor setting with Mercury suggests a mind that grows more subtly perceptive and keenly discerning with decades.
At the Nadir
Alcor at the nadir with Mercury reveals hidden reserves of subtle analytical perception beneath measured communication.
Alcor in Paran with Venus
Rising
Alcor rising with Venus shapes early love with subtle perceptive beauty and the capacity for seeing what others overlook.
Culminating
Alcor culminating with Venus brings recognition for beauty detected through unusually subtle, keen perception.
Setting
Alcor setting with Venus suggests creative expression that grows more subtly perceptive with maturity.
At the Nadir
Alcor at the nadir with Venus conceals a private subtle aesthetic that detects beauty others consistently miss.
Alcor in Paran with Mars
Rising
Alcor rising with Mars channels early energy into subtly targeted, precisely perceptive competitive action.
Culminating
Alcor culminating with Mars places subtly targeted fighting precision at the apex of achievement.
Setting
Alcor setting with Mars indicates subtle fighting perception that grows more precisely discerning with experience.
At the Nadir
Alcor at the nadir with Mars conceals reserves of subtly targeted energy deployed at perceptively detected opportunities.
Alcor in Paran with Jupiter
Rising
Alcor rising with Jupiter expands early subtle perception into broad, philosophically informed keen discernment.
Culminating
Alcor culminating with Jupiter brings peak achievement through expansive, subtly perceptive leadership.
Setting
Alcor setting with Jupiter indicates growing scope for subtle perception in the later years.
At the Nadir
Alcor at the nadir with Jupiter reveals vast inner subtle perception and philosophical discernment.
Alcor in Paran with Saturn
Rising
Alcor rising with Saturn demands early discipline in developing the sustained, patiently subtle perception of maturity.
Culminating
Alcor culminating with Saturn achieves lasting authority through decades of disciplined, subtly perceptive professional work.
Setting
Alcor setting with Saturn builds an enduring reputation for subtle perception refined across a lifetime.
At the Nadir
Alcor at the nadir with Saturn establishes inner reserves of disciplined subtle perception and patient discernment.
Alcor in Paran with Ascendant
Rising
Alcor rising with the Ascendant stamps the personality with subtle, keenly perceptive presence that others gradually discover.
Culminating
Alcor culminating with the Ascendant projects subtle discernment and keen perception onto the broadest stage.
Setting
Alcor setting with the Ascendant draws others who gradually discover your essential, subtly perceptive quality.
At the Nadir
Alcor at the nadir with the Ascendant grounds identity in deeply private subtle perception and keen discernment.
Alcor in Paran with Midheaven
Rising
Alcor rising with the Midheaven launches a career built on subtle, keenly perceptive professional discernment.
Culminating
Alcor culminating with the Midheaven represents peak career achievement through subtly perceptive, essential professional contributions.
Setting
Alcor setting with the Midheaven indicates a career legacy of subtle perception valued in retrospect for its essential accuracy.
At the Nadir
Alcor at the nadir with the Midheaven builds career success on hidden foundations of subtle perceptive discipline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the name Alcor mean?
The name Alcor comes from Arabic: Al Suhā or Al Khawwār, meaning "The Overlooked One, the Faint One." 80 Ursae Majoris, the faint companion of Mizar. The star is known by 4 different cultural names across world traditions.
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