The North Star or Pole Star – aka Polaris – is famous for holding nearly still in our sky while the entire northern sky moves around it. That’s because it’s located nearly at the north celestial pole, the point around which the entire northern sky turns. Polaris marks the way due north. Polaris is not the brightest star in the nighttime sky, as is commonly believed. It’s only about 50th brightest. But you can find it easily, and, once you do, you’ll see it shining in the northern sky every night, from N. Hemisphere locations. If you can find the Big Dipper it is easy to find the North Star. Find the star that makes up the rim of the cup on the Big Dipper. The star is on the right, its called Dubhe. Follow that star north until you see the Little Dipper. The North Star is at the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper. In the city the North Star is pretty easy to find, in the country where the light pollution is less, the North Star will shine brightly. How did we know that our axis points to the North Star? Navigators from a long, long, long time ago noticed that there was a group of stars (called the Little Dipper today) was always within view as ships sailed in the Northern Hemisphere. When the ships went down below the imaginary equator line, the Little Dipper cluster of stars disappeared. Astronomers were fascinated with this and when technology was developed to really see if the Earth spins around the North Star, this is what they discovered using time-lapse photography. That star in the middle of this time-lapse is....the North Star. Finding Polaris means you know the direction north. Not only that, The Big Dipper, like a great big hour hand, goes full circle around Polaris in one day. More specifically, the Big Dipper circles Polaris in a counter-clockwise direction in 23 hours and 56 minutes. Although the Big Dipper travels around Polaris all night long, the Big Dipper pointer stars always point to Polaris on any day of the year, and at any time of the night. Polaris marks the center of Nature’s grandest celestial clock! From the Northern Hemisphere we can ALWAYS find the North Star and the Big Dipper because they are constellations that never set like the Sun and Moon set on the horizon. Okay, hold onto your hats, put your seat belt on...are you ready for this? Polaris hasn’t always been the North Star and won’t remain the North Star forever. For example, a famous star called Thuban, in the constellation Draco the Dragon, was the North Star when the Egyptians built the pyramids. Because the Earth wobbles, in 14,000 years the star Vega is expected to be the North Star of the future. No worries for you and your future family, Polaris will continue its reign as the North Star for many centuries to come. At one time in human history, people literally depended on their lucky stars for their lives and livelihood. Luckily, they could trust the Big Dipper and the North Star to guide them. People could sail the seas and cross the trackless deserts without getting lost. When slavery existed in the United States, slaves counted on the Big Dipper (which they called the Drinking Gourd) to show them the North Star, lighting their way to the free states and Canada. I'm going to let you in on a little secret too.... The single point of light that we see as Polaris is actually a triple star system, or three stars orbiting a common center of mass. The primary star, Polaris A, is a super giant with about six times the mass of our sun. A close companion, Polaris Ab, orbits 2 billion miles from Polaris. Much farther away, at the top of the picture, is the third companion Polaris B. Polaris B is located approximately 240 billion miles from Polaris A. The two companion stars are the same temperature as Polaris A, but are dwarf stars. Now you know! (Probably more than you ever wanted to know....)
21 Comments
Luke
10/5/2017 03:46:18 pm
Cool so Polaris is actually a 3 star star system!!
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Quinn
10/5/2017 04:35:05 pm
Go minions go. Exalant job on the bog Mrs. Taylor👍👍👍
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Ben
10/5/2017 06:14:07 pm
I hope my locker hasent been vandalized also Tobin said his locker had a note that sworn in his locker😞🤗😔☹️😛😛😛😛😛😛😛😛😰😰😰😱😱😱😱👿👻💪🏿🌪🌪🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟🍉🍉🍇🥝🎁🎁🛎🛎🔑🛎🛎💝💞💞💜💕💕💘💖💖❣️💚💛💔💗💗💓💓🖤❤️❤️🚯🚯🚯🚯🚯💠💠💠💠💠💠🔔🔊🃏🀄️🀄️🎴🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
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aidan
10/5/2017 06:23:10 pm
hopefully, the note mystery will be solved soon.
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Ben
10/5/2017 06:14:39 pm
Swore
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Elayna
10/5/2017 06:41:05 pm
That is so interesting.
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gandalf
10/5/2017 07:29:58 pm
so Mrs.Taylor what you are telling us is that the north star is actually triple star system? And if the north star changes then you are telling us that the north star we know now will no longer be the north star in the future? right? are you following what i'm typing because if not then that is completely fine with me.
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syd
10/5/2017 08:12:57 pm
awsome blog today
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carter gemni
10/5/2017 08:24:28 pm
i hope we solve the vandal mystery soon. also don't listen to peoples theories.They are lies or just guessed. :)
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Ally B.
10/5/2017 08:27:06 pm
Hey guys, nice job on the blog Mrs.Taylor. Again I came home and friend but this time only 30 minutes then I had to start on homework. Sammy, Ally, and everyone else that's locker has been broken into I'm sorry. I don't know who you are and why your doing this but whoever you are and what happened to you. Don"t take it out on all of us people that were or were not involved in it do something like eat candy go on a jog cry for hours on end( that's what I do). What I'm trying to say is just stop. Please. I think I'm speaking for everyone when I say that.
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AllyB.
10/5/2017 08:30:14 pm
Stupid spell correct I just read my post and it daid th I came home and friend I mean cry😭😭
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Addyson
10/5/2017 08:31:58 pm
Love the one with the girls from Pretty little liars. Good job on the blog🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄
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Ally b.
10/5/2017 08:32:42 pm
AAAAAAAAAa😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡! I HATE SPELL CORRECT.😡😡😡😭😭😎😎😎🤑🤑🤑 Don't worry guys I'm still chill
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Loa
10/5/2017 09:10:09 pm
It is not cool its amazing. So, the Polaris is a three star system? That is amazing. And just talking about this Full moon is pretty outside. If any of you guys are putting notes with bad words, just stop it just saying this. And today Mr. Sheerer came back!:D.
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Harmony
10/6/2017 06:50:27 am
Thanks for all the facts on the north star and good job on the blog Mrs. Taylor
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Mckinna
10/6/2017 07:35:07 am
Wow! The North Star is in a time lapse.
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Alyssa Thunell
10/6/2017 07:30:33 am
i love the pictures they are so cool.
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Madi Mcniven
10/6/2017 07:32:58 am
I didn't know that the North Star was in the Little Dipper.
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Errol
10/6/2017 07:47:08 am
When I was little I used to call the little dipper the little diaper..... heh... I was weird. Anyway I know that they will catch the criminal because now they have put the video cameras pointing the lockers. Lucky boys they never get any drama. Anyway I may forget this stuff so I may be checking this post again.
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Moonisus/ Sammy
10/6/2017 07:59:48 am
Good job on the blog post Mrs. Taylor!
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Moonicorn
10/6/2017 08:03:59 am
I luv science
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |