Polaris, the North Star, is a single point in the night sky which the entire consortium of stars appears to revolve around. Despite being one of the most well-known stars in the sky, Polaris continues to confuse scientists. We still don’t know for sure how old the star is, or even exactly how far away it is from Earth.
The yellow supergiant is a Cepheid variable star, which means its brightness fluctuates by less than a tenth of a magnitude every few days. A common misconception is that Polaris is the brightest star in the sky, but this position is actually held by Sirius, with Polaris only ranking 48th in terms of luminosity.
Since Polaris isn’t incredibly bright or visible to us, how has it been our famous guiding star, escorting travellers for centuries? The answer is its location. Polaris is our one constant in the perpetually moving night sky, remaining in almost the exact same position above the northern horizon all year round. In Mongolian mythology, it’s considered to be the peg that holds the world together, and in Norse mythology, it was the end of a spike around which the sky rotates.
No matter where you find yourself in the Northern Hemisphere, if you locate Polaris, you know you’re facing north. If you want to take navigation one step further, you can measure the distance between Polaris and the horizon to discover a second valuable data point: your latitude. If you were to stand at the North Pole, Polaris would appear almost directly overhead – the star is slightly offset from the true north celestial pole by less than a degree.
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 120 de All About Space.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 120 de All About Space.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
!["We knew that this would be a historic comet"](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1373895/J0Ir3DF_J1689222545336/crp_WE-KNEW-THAT-THIS-WOULD-BE-A-HISTORIC-COMET.jpg)
"We knew that this would be a historic comet"
Astronomer David Levy was immortalised for his co-discovery of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 – its impact with Jupiter 29 years ago held the world in awe
![CELESTRON STARSENSE EXPLORER DX 102AZ](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/9W6-RaxLw1691734139571/CELESTRON-STARSENSE-EXPLORER-DX-102AZ.jpg)
CELESTRON STARSENSE EXPLORER DX 102AZ
Innovative technology provides the simplest and quickest solution yet to finding objects to observe, and this instrument will be very popular with beginners
![MOON TOUR - COPERNICUS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/Nh_FbuTQ-1691734037084/MOON-TOUR-COPERNICUS.jpg)
MOON TOUR - COPERNICUS
Get up close to the ‘Monarch of the Moon’
![A HUNGRY BLACK HOLE 'SWITCHES ON' AS ASTRONOMERS WATCH IN SURPRISE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/uwEzMFoAu1691733825533/A-HUNGRY-BLACK-HOLE-SWITCHES-ON-AS-ASTRONOMERS-WATCH-IN-SURPRISE.jpg)
A HUNGRY BLACK HOLE 'SWITCHES ON' AS ASTRONOMERS WATCH IN SURPRISE
J221951 is one of the most extreme examples yet
![MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE - WHY DOES JUPITER CHANGE COLOUR?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/PDJYII2fn1691733484726/MYSTERIES-OF-THE-UNIVERSE-WHY-DOES-JUPITER-CHANGE-COLOUR.jpg)
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE - WHY DOES JUPITER CHANGE COLOUR?
For years, scientists have tried to work out why Jupiter’s bands frequently move and change colour. Now they believe they’ve found the answer
![MARS HELICOPTER PHONES HOME AFTER A 63-DAY SILENCE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/MVLXt4M7T1691733392016/MARS-HELICOPTER-PHONES-HOME-AFTER-A-63DAY-SILENCE.jpg)
MARS HELICOPTER PHONES HOME AFTER A 63-DAY SILENCE
Rugged terrain had kept Ingenuity from communicating with its robotic partner, the Perseverance rover
![SIX OF THE BEST SPACE PRANKS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/LEnJDVRyL1691733094104/SIX-OF-THE-BEST-SPACE-PRANKS.jpg)
SIX OF THE BEST SPACE PRANKS
It turns out that the sky isn’t the limit when it comes to a good old-fashioned practical joke
![CLIMATES CHANGE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/ljdL__odK1691732627379/CLIMATES-CHANGE-IN-THE-SOLAR-SYSTEM.jpg)
CLIMATES CHANGE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Alongside Earth, our planetary neighbourhood is changing. But not for the better…
![TIME APPEARED TO MOVE FIVE TIMES SLOWER IN THE FIRST BILLION YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/in1YHpDRV1691732364796/TIME-APPEARED-TO-MOVE-FIVE-TIMES-SLOWER-IN-THE-FIRST-BILLION-YEARS-AFTER-THE-BIG-BANG.jpg)
TIME APPEARED TO MOVE FIVE TIMES SLOWER IN THE FIRST BILLION YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG
Time dilation, brought about by the relativistic expansion of space, has resulted in the observed slowing of ‘clocks’ in the early universe
![WHAT CAN WE DO WITH A CAPTURED ASTEROID?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/V5ibLPxcW1691732121606/WHAT-CAN-WE-DO-WITH-A-CAPTURED-ASTEROID.jpg)
WHAT CAN WE DO WITH A CAPTURED ASTEROID?
Asteroids could provide us with rare resources