Alpha Ursae Minoris
Polaris as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope.
|
Observation data
Epoch J2000 |
| Constellation |
Ursa Minor |
| Right ascension |
02h 31m 48.7s |
| Declination |
+89° 15′ 51″ |
| Apparent magnitude (V) |
1.97 |
| Characteristics |
| Spectral type |
F7 Ib-II SB |
| U-B color index |
0.38 |
| B-V color index |
0.60 |
| Variable type |
Cepheid variable |
| Astrometry |
| Radial velocity (Rv) |
-17 km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) |
RA: 44.22 mas/yr
Dec.: -11.74 mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) |
7.56 ± 0.48 mas |
| Distance |
430 ± 30 ly
(132 ± 8 pc) |
| Absolute magnitude (MV) |
-3.64 |
| Details |
| Mass |
5.0 or 6.0 M☉ |
| Radius |
30 R☉ |
| Luminosity |
2200 L☉ |
| Temperature |
7200 K |
| Metallicity |
? |
| Rotation |
~17 km/s |
| Age |
? years |
| Other designations |
Polaris, Cynosura, Alruccabah, Phoenice,
Lodestar, Pole Star, Tramontana, Angel Stern,
Navigatoria, Star of Arcady, Yilduz, Mismar,
Polyarnaya, 1 Ursae Minoris, HR 424,
BD +88°8, HD 8890, SAO 308, FK5 907,
GC 2243, ADS 1477, CCDM 02319+8915, HIP 11767.
|
Polaris (α UMi / α Ursae Minoris / Alpha Ursae Minoris), more commonly known as
The North Star or simply North Star, is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north
celestial pole (42′ away as of 2006), making it the current
northern pole star.
Name
"Polaris" comes from Stella polaris, the Latin form of its common name "Polar Star". The
rarely used Cynosura from the Greek name Κυνόσουρα means "the dog-tailed
one" and is the source of the English word cynosure. Other names include the "North Star / Northern Star", the "Lode Star",
or sometimes "Polaris Borealis".
Physical properties
Polaris is a trinary system, consisting of a large yellow Cepheid variable (α UMi A), orbited by a bright yellow dwarf (α UMi
B) at a distance of about 2400 AU (360 billion kilometers, or 224 billion miles). Polaris B can be seen with even a modest
telescope and was first noticed by William Herschel in 1780. In 1929, it was discovered
by examining the spectrum of Polaris A that it had another very close dwarf companion
(variously α UMi P, α UMi a or α UMi Ab). In January 2006, NASA released images from the
Hubble telescope, directly showing all three members of the Polaris trinary
system. The nearer dwarf star is in an orbit of only 18.5 AU (2.8 billion km [1]; about the distance from our Sun to Uranus) from Polaris A, explaining why its light is swamped by its close and much brighter companion.[2]
Polaris is 431 light years (132 pc) from Earth,
according to astrometric measurements of the Hipparcos
satellite. Concerning the detailed physics, α UMi A is an F7 bright giant (II) or supergiant (Ib). The two
smaller companions are: α UMi B, an F3V main sequence star orbiting at a distance
of 2400 AU, and α UMi Ab, a very close dwarf with an 18.5 AU radius orbit. Recent observations show that Polaris may be
part of a loose open cluster of type A and F stars.
The giant star of Polaris is a classical Population I Cepheid variable (although it was once thought to be Population II due to its high galactic latitude). Since Cepheids are an important standard candle for determining distance, Polaris (as the closest such star) is heavily studied. Around
1900, the star luminosity varied ±8% from its average (0.15 magnitudes in total) with a 3.97 day period; however, the amplitude
of its variation has been quickly declining since the middle of the 20th century. The variation reached a minimum of 1% in the
mid 1990s and has remained at a low level. Over the same period, the star has brightened by 15% (on average), and the period has
lengthened by about 8 seconds each year.
Recent research reported in Science suggests that Polaris is 2.5 times
brighter today than when Ptolemy observed it (now 2mag, antiquity 3mag). The astronomer
Edward Guinan considers this to be a remarkable rate of change and is on record as saying
that "If they are real, these changes are 100 times larger than [those] predicted by current theories of stellar evolution."
Pole Star
Because α UMi lies nearly in a direct line with the axis of the Earth's
rotation "above" the North Pole — the north celestial pole — Polaris stands almost motionless
on the sky, and all the stars of the Northern sky appear to rotate around it. Therefore, it makes an excellent fixed point from
which to draw measurements for celestial navigation and for astrometry. The antiquity of its use is attested by the fact that it is found represented on the earliest
known Assyrian tablets. At present, Polaris is 0.7° away
from the pole of rotation (1.4 times the Moon disc) and hence revolves around the pole in a small
circle 1½° in diameter. Only twice during every sidereal day does Polaris accurately
define the true north azimuth; the rest of the time it is only an approximation and must be
corrected using tables or a rough rule of thumb.
An artist's concept of Polaris' system
Due to the precession of the equinoxes, Polaris will not always be the pole
star. Over tens of thousands of years, perturbations to the Earth's axis of rotation will cause it to point to other regions of
the sky, tracing out a circle. Other stars along this circle were the pole star in the past and will be again in the future,
including Thuban and Vega. Polaris has been close to the actual
position of the north pole for over 1000 years and during the course of the 21st century it will continue to approach the exact
theoretical position, reaching its closest approach on 24 March 2100 (almost 0.45° away). Subsequently it will begin to pull away.[3]
In the Northern Hemisphere, it is easy to find Polaris by following the line
traced from Merak to Dubhe (β and α
Ursae Majoris, also known as the Pointers), the two stars at the end of the bowl of the
Big Dipper. One can also follow the central point of the "W" shape of Cassiopeia. Polaris is not visible from the Southern
Hemisphere except from an elevated position near the equator.
Polaris's fame as the North Star has given rise to a persistent misconception that it is the brightest star in the sky.
Although Polaris is a relatively bright star and is conspicuous since no other stars of similar brightness are close to it, it is
nowhere near the brightest; it is actually the 48th brightest star in the night sky. The brightest star in the night sky is
Sirius (see Winter sky and List of brightest stars).
There is no real southern pole star. The only star visible to the naked eye that is close to the south celestial pole is the dim Sigma
Octantis, sometimes called Polaris Australis. However, the bright Southern Cross
(Crux) points fairly accurately towards the south celestial pole.
See also
References
- ^ There's More to the
North Star Than Meets the Eye
- ^ Evans, N. R.; Schaefer, G.; Bond, H.; Bono,
G.; Karovska, M.; Nelan, E.; Sasselov, D. (January 9 2006).
"Direct detection of
the close companion of Polaris with the Hubble Space Telescope". American Astronomical Society 207th
Meeting.
- ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Meeus, J., Willmann-Bell Inc.,
Richmond, Virginia, 1997, p.308. ISBN 0 943396 51 4
External links
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