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Polaris
Polaris is Earth's current northern pole star, and thus is commonly referred to as the North Star. Historically, Polaris was used by sailors and navigators to determine their current latitude while crossing oceans. Please place all questions about Polaris, the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor, into this category.
543 Questions
Where can one purchase Polaris accessories?
You may purchase Polaris accessories from your local dealer. They are also caries at stores like Bass Pro Shop. For strictly Polaris Products, check out the Pure Polaris website.
Were is the star Polaris located on this map and what is its coordinates?
I am having great difficulty seeing this map, leave alone Polaris!
What is the meaning of the spiral galaxy?
It means the galaxy has the shape of a spiral. To see what this looks like, search Google Images (image.google.com) for examples.
Which automatic pool cleaners other than Polaris are efficient and durable and recommended?
Your traditional automatic pool floor cleaners are not bad however they only clean the bottom of the pool and do nothing to keep the water clean. You mention the Polaris pool cleaner, these are considered the rolls Royce of pool cleaners. The problem with them is that they only catch big materials and blow the fine stuff back into the water to settle on steps and other surfaces where it cant reach. For an automatic pool cleaner that stops the water from getting dirty in the first place and sanitizes the the surface of the water where the greatest risk to health is have a look at the Dragonfly Super Skimmer.It has one moving part that is highly unlikely to wear out during its 4 year warranty. Check out dragonfly.biz
What is the star Polaris also called?
It is called the North Star, the Pole Star, Alpha Ursae Minoris.
Is the North Star visible in North America only at night during the spring and the summer?
It's only visible at night, but it is visible all year round in North America.
In fact, it never goes below the horizon anywhere north of the equator.
Where would you be if Polaris is seen on the horizon?
Your at the equator if you see Polaris at the horizon
How does the altitude of Polaris change with latitude?
the altitude of polaris is same as the latitude of your location assuming that you are in the northern hemisphere
You must be 20° above (north) the equator
What is the altitude of Polaris from Paris?
the same as Paris geographic latitude, that is about 48.5o
This is true for every place on the surface of the earth
Why does the pole star remain stationary?
The Pole Star appears to remain stationary because it is directly above the North Pole.
Does polaris move as Earth rotates?
It appears to remain stationary above the North Pole and that is why it is important.
Why does polaris not move as the earth rotates?
It does but only a little. It is almost directly above the Earth's North Pole so that the axis of rotation points towards Polaris.
Why doesn't Polaris produce a star trail?
It does, but the trail consists of a small circle - of 1.5 degrees in diameter.
Why does the answer say Currently the north star is Polaris?
Because in the future, due to a wobble in how the earth rotates on its axis, known as precession, what we now see as the north star, which we all Polaris, will no longer appear to be in that position.
Is the star Polaris high mass or low mass?
I'm convinced that this is how a lot of wars start ... people talking to each other
using words that mean different things to different people.
You're talking 'high' and 'low', which are certainly relative words at best, without
mentioning anything else that might tell us what you're thinking of to compare to.
Compared to you or me, or either of my dogs, or a car, or a continent, or the whole
Earth, the star Polaris is certainly an enormous mass.
Compared to any stable black hole, Polaris is a tiny mass. It doesn't even have
enough mass to ever become a black hole when it's done shining.
Polaris is estimated as six (6) solar masses. That's more massive than most
main-sequence stars, less massive than the majority of high-mass stars, and
roughly the mass of our sun six times over.
-- Compared to anything but stars, the mass of Polaris is huge.
-- Compared to the mass of other stars, Polaris is somewhat above average,
but probably not to the point where you'd need to call it especially high or
especially low.
Edit: A lot of this is missing the point. The terms "high mass" and "low mass"
are technical terms used by astronomers.
Astronomers can define what is meant.
There is no exact definition, but a high mass star is normally considered to be one that will eventually become a "Type II Supernova". That requires a mass at least 8 times the Sun's mass.
In that case, Polaris is clearly not a "high mass" star, according to the definition.
However, it's probably best to call Polaris a "medium" or "intermediate" mass star rather than a "low mass" star.
Note: A slight complication is that Polaris is a triple star system. I assume we are talking about the main star in this system.
