Polaris

Famous Stars

Polaris

I chose famous stars to research next because I am very interested in learning about the stars I’ve seen every night, but never knew anything about.

Polaris, known as the North Star (as well as Lodestar, guiding star and the Pole Star). It is the 50th brightest star in the night sky, it is readily visible by a modern telescope. It used to be used as a navigational tool in the northern hemisphere for centuries. This star is known as Alpha Ursae Minoris because it is the alpha star in the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Bear). It is a white supergiant star. Rather than being a single super giant, Polaris is actually a trinary star system, composed of a main star and two smaller companions, along with two other distant components that make it a multi star system. It wasn’t always the north star, as the Earth's axis wobbles over thousands of years and points in different direction. Until the axis moves away from the “Polestar”, it while remain our North Star guide.

Source

Star: Polaris (North Star // Pole Star // α Ursae Minoris)

Chemical Components: Abundance of Sodium (Na)

Calcium (Ca)

Magnesium (Mg)

                   

Spectrum Analysis (of most abundant component: Sodium):

Source

Location: Right Ascension-  02h 31m 49.09s

                 Declination- -44° 47' 59"

Stellar Classification: F7

      Yellow Supergiant

Source

References:http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1986PASP...98..442L/0000443.000.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaris

http://www.universetoday.com/45775/famous-stars/