Phecda is the proper name of the star γ Ursae Majoris in the constellation Ursa Major. It is more familiar to most observers in the northern hemisphere as the lower-left star forming the bowl of the Big Dipper. Along with four other stars in this well-known asterism, Phecda forms an actual loose, open cluster of stars known as the Ursa Major Cluster that puts the stars physically close together and not just in our night sky. Like the other stars in the cluster, it is an average main sequence star not unlike our Sun, although somewhat hotter, brighter and larger.
The name comes from the Arabic فخذ faxð "thigh" (of the bear).
