patch of sky from Earth's perspective. This group has an estimated age of about 500 (± 100) million years. As the members of this group share a common origin and motion through space, this yields an estimate for the age of Beta Ursae Majoris. Two stars are known to be located in relatively close proximity: 37 Ursae Majoris at and Gamma Ursae Majoris at ; much closer to each other than these stars are to the Earth. Nomenclature β Ursae Majoris (Latinised to Beta Ursae Majoris) is the star's Bayer designation. It bore the traditional name Merak derived from the Arabic المراق al-maraqq 'the loins' (of the bear). In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Merak for this star. The Hindus called the star Pulaha, one of the Seven Rishis. In Chinese, (), meaning Northern Dipper, refers to an asterism equivalent to the Big Dipper. Consequently, the Chinese name for Beta Ursae Majoris itself is (, ) and (, ). In culture USS Merak (1918) and USS Merak (AF-21) are both United States navy ships. See also Lists of stars List of brightest stars List of nearest bright stars Historical brightest stars References A-type subgiants Suspected variables Ursa Major Moving Group Merak Ursae Majoris, Beta Ursa Major (constellation) Big Dipper BD+57 1302 Ursae Majoris, 48 095418 053910 4295 Am stars