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Much of the historical fame for the star comes from its coupling with the nearby star '''Alcor''', or '''80 Ursae Majoris'''.  Like Mizar, Alcor is visible in the night sky to the unaided eye, and together the two stars are the asterism known as the '''Horse and Rider'''. It is said in [[Arabic]] literature that only those with the best sight can see Alcor along side Mizar, and the ability to resolve both stars has long been a measure of good eyesight.  Alcor does have an apparent magnitude of 3.99, making it readily visible to the unaided eye in dark skies, although much more dim then Mizar's magnitude of 2.27.  The two stars share the same proper motion as part of the Ursa Major Moving Group (which includes most of the stars of the Big Dipper).  Because the two stars are actually three light years apart, they are most likely simply an optical binary, and are not part of the same system.  Alcor itself is a white dwarf of spectral class A5 V.

Much of the historical fame for the star comes from its coupling with the nearby star '''Alcor''', or '''80 Ursae Majoris'''.  Like Mizar, Alcor is visible in the night sky to the unaided eye, and together the two stars are the asterism known as the '''Horse and Rider'''. It is said in [[Arabic]] literature that only those with the best sight can see Alcor along side Mizar, and the ability to resolve both stars has long been a measure of good eyesight.  Alcor does have an apparent magnitude of 3.99, making it readily visible to the unaided eye in dark skies, although much more dim then Mizar's magnitude of 2.27.  The two stars share the same proper motion as part of the Ursa Major Moving Group (which includes most of the stars of the Big Dipper).  Because the two stars are actually three light years apart, they are most likely simply an optical binary, and are not part of the same system.  Alcor itself is a white dwarf of spectral class A5 V.

Mizar itself is a system made out of four stars, grouped into two [[binary star|binaries]].  In 1617 '''Benedetto Castelli''' first discovered the secondary star, Mizar B, while observing the Mizar system.  Castelli asked [[Galileo Galilei]] to observed the star further, who did and who produced a detailed account of the two stars. Later in 1889, it was discovered that Mizar A itself was a binary star when he found the companion using a [[spectrometer]], making the binary pair the first to be discovered using this method.  Later in 1908, spectral analysis lead to the further discovery of Mizar B also being a spectroscopic binary.<ref name="leo">http://www.leosondra.cz/en/mizar/</ref>  

Mizar itself is a system made out of four stars, grouped into two [[binary star|binaries]].  In 1617 '''Benedetto Castelli''' first discovered the secondary star, '''Mizar B''', while observing the Mizar system.  Castelli asked [[Galileo Galilei]] to observed the star further, who did and who produced a detailed account of the two stars. Later in 1889, it was discovered that '''Mizar A''' itself was a binary star when he found the companion using a [[spectrometer]], making the binary pair the first to be discovered using this method.  Later in 1908, spectral analysis lead to the further discovery of Mizar B also being a [[Binary_star#Spectroscopic_Binaries|spectroscopic binary]].<ref name="leo">http://www.leosondra.cz/en/mizar/</ref>

==The Star System==

==The Star System==