April 21, 2025
Science

The story of Polaris, the ‘polar star’ that always points north, will amaze you to read

  • May 26, 2022
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You can change your home, work, circle of friends and even yourself a little bit, but if you turn your eyes to the north of the sky at

The story of Polaris, the ‘polar star’ that always points north, will amaze you to read

You can change your home, work, circle of friends and even yourself a little bit, but if you turn your eyes to the north of the sky at night in the dark, it’s always there. Knowing that you will encounter the Polaris North Star it will give you confidence. Polaris North Star For thousands of years it has accompanied all travellers, especially sailors and adventurers who have lost their way, giving them the same confidence it gave us.

Located in the northern part of the sky above the Northern Hemisphere called the North Celestial Pole Polaris was not always the North Star. Thousands of years ago we gave this name to another star, and in thousands of years we will give this name to another star. Polaris North Star We shared all the remarkable details about the astronomers as a result of their observations.

polaris pole star

What is the Polaris “polar star”?

To make a general definition before going into details, Polaris; Also called the North or North Star, it is the name given to the constellation that is located in the northern celestial pole in the Northern Hemisphere, always pointing north in a constant and clear manner. Yes, Polaris is not a single star. To us The North Star, which always points north, it is actually a constellation of three different stars.

The trio we call the North Star, located between the constellation Ursa Minor; It consists of the stars Polaris A, Polaris Ab, and Polaris B. The Polaris North Star is also very close to a group of stars called the Big Dipper. Although in fact we know it as the brightest star It is the 50th brightest star. Perhaps the reason we know him as his brightest is because we’ve seen him for thousands of years.

If you know which direction the North Star is pointing, you know everything:

polaris pole star

For thousands of years staring at us in all its majesty at the northern celestial pole in the northern hemisphere, the Polaris Polar Star, It points exactly north with a deviation of about 0.45 degrees. To find the latitude of your location, simply measure the angle between the northern horizon and Polaris.

If you look at the North Star and open your arms to either side, your front is north, your back is south, your right is east, and your left is west. If you look at Polaris from the equator You’ll see it’s monolithic with the northern horizon at 0 degrees, and if you look at Polaris from the North Pole, it’s right above you at 90 degrees.

The Polaris North Star is known to everyone, as most people on Earth live in the Northern Hemisphere. For those who live in the southern hemisphere They don’t have a Southern Star to navigate. They can’t even see Polaris. People in the southern hemisphere will not see such a star for the next 2,000 years.

The North Star is far, far away from us:

polaris pole star

Polaris consists of three different stars a small constellation We said it was. One of these three, Polaris A, is about six times larger than the Sun. Polaris Ab is 2 billion years older than Polaris A. The distance between Polaris A and Polaris B is estimated to be about 240 billion miles. Polaris A, a supergiant, and Polaris B, a dwarf star, tend to have erratic temperatures in different cycles.

With Polaris, which we call the North Star and formed by this trio, We are about 430 light-years apart. has been estimated. Polaris is a supergiant and its full brightness is equivalent to about 2500 solar luminosity. There is no other explanation for how it can shine so brightly, even so many light years away.

The history of the North Star is not just Polaris:

polaris pole star

Since the day they existed, people for many different reasons have looked to the sky and found their way using the stars, set up a calendar, set up an agricultural order, and even made prophecies. However, if we look to the north, the star we see and call the pole star, it wasn’t always Polaris. About 5000 years ago, for the Egyptians, the Pole Star was a star called Thuban in the constellation Draco the Dragon.

Thuban wasn’t even as bright as Polaris, but by the then terms it was the North Star. Since the stars move like everything else in space, Thuban was replaced after a while by our current star, Polaris. Same way about 10,000 years from now In addition, Polaris will be replaced by a star called Vega in the constellation Lyra. In addition, Vega will be the brightest North Star ever seen.

Does the North Star move?

polaris pole star

Like everything in space, the Polar Star Polaris moves. In addition If you look closely You can see this movement. As a result of the series of photos or videos taken with the Polar Star in focus, Polaris can be seen drawing a small circle by moving around itself.

In fact, we can see the movement of all the stars, but there is such a great distance between us that we cannot see it with our eyes. Sometimes we can see the movement of stars other than Polaris for various reasons. If only we live long enough and if we don’t take our eyes off Polaris for a moment we can witness the destruction and death of Vega.

Is the North Star enough to navigate?

polaris pole star

Whether the Polar Star can navigate Polaris depends on how precise you want to find a direction. The North Star always points north. Your front is north, your back is south, your right is east and your left is west. So if you find Polaris, you have a primitive compass.

For sailors of the past, this primitive compass method was a life saver. Finding latitude by calculating the angle between the pole star and the northern horizon was an event that for a time would be considered almost a miracle. However, exact location detection possibly due to the intersection of latitude and longitude. For this reason, knowing just latitude has not served sailors for thousands of years. In the middle of the 18th century, only with modern signage, shipping could gain some speed.

Despite everything, the Polaris North Star has been in place for thousands of years and will remain for thousands of years to come. fascinates people. The balance of nature doesn’t even change in space; one star dies, another takes its place with all its brilliance. What doesn’t change is the bright light we see in that north that never goes out.

Source: Web Tekno

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