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'Eta Ursae Majoris' (η UMa / η Ursae Majoris) is a star in the constellation Ursa Major. It also has the traditional names 'Alkaid' (or 'Elkeid') and 'Benetnash' ('Benetnasch').
It is known as 北斗七 (the Seventh Star of the Northern Dipper) or 搖光 (the Star of Twinkling Brilliance) in Chinese.
Alkaid is the most eastern (leftmost) star in the Big Dipper (Plough) asterism. However, unlike most stars of the Big Dipper it is not a member of the Ursa Major moving group.
Alkaid has apparent magnitude +1.9, making it the 35th brightest star in the sky. It is a young bluish-white main sequence star of spectral class B3 V. At 20,000 kelvins it is one of the hotter stars visible with the naked eye.
The name derives from 'القائد البنات النعش', ''al-qāid al-banāt an-nac'' meaning "The leader of the daughters of the bier". The daughters of the bier, i.e. the mourning maidens, are the three stars of the handle of the Big Dipper, Alkaid, Mizar, and Alioth.

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★ Alkaid in Jim Kaler's ''Stars'' website