Beta Boötis Beta Boötis Beta Boötis (β Boötis, abbreviated Beta Boo, β Boo), also named Nekkar, is a star in the northern constellation of Boötes. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.5, making it one of the brighter members of the constellation. In the modern constellation, it marks the head of Boötis the herdsman. Based upon parallax measurements obtained during the Hipparcos mission, this star is approximately from the Sun. At that distance, the magnitude of the star is reduced by 0.06 from extinction caused by intervening gas and dust. "β Boötis" (Latinised to "Beta Boötis") is the star's Bayer designation.
Sculptor (constellation) to the north, Fornax to the east, Phoenix to the south, Grus to the southwest, and Piscis Austrinus to the west. The bright star Fomalhaut is nearby. The three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is 'Scl'. The official constellation boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of 6 segments. In the equatorial coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between and , while the declination coordinates are between −24.80° and −39.37°. The whole constellation is visible to observers south of latitude 50°N. No