Whatcha Hidin' There?

Astronomers have discovered that Alcor, a star in the handle of The Big Dipper constellation, has a previously unseen companion.

It's kind of par for the course for stars in that particular constellation, as many of them have shown up with unexpected companion stars as observing equipment improved and astronomers were better able to make out details. Alcor is a large bright star and the companion is a red dwarf star, one of the most common stars found in the universe. That's on the occasions when they're found, of course, as they are pretty dim compared to other stars and often are overlooked.

The new star will be named according to the conventional practice of the International Astronomical Union, which designates mutiple-star systems with letters of the alphabet. So it will be called Alcor B, and the former Alcor will now be called Alcor A in light of the discovery.

There is no truth to the rumor that the appearance of a previously unknown companion to Alcor prompted the IAU to consider renaming it "Tiger."