To transfer between accounts, click on the account below
Sailors and travelers have used Polaris, also known as the Northern Star, for centuries to position on the Earth’s surface. Polaris is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor, whose seven brightest stars shape the Little Dipper. Polaris is the brightest star at the tail tip of the Little Dipper and is useful because it is the only star that does not appear to move relative to an express location on Earth. Polaris will be noticed from the south of the equator.
The altitude of a star is the measure of the degree of the star on the horizon. Plane on the horizon is 0 and directly in the sky is at 90 degrees, which has a special name, the zenith.
Use a map or Internet at the latitude of your hometown and see if your measurement is correct.
Polaris is so far away (about 434 mild years) that soft rays reach Earth in parallel. This allows us to look at the angle between us and the star (which is the same as the angle between the horizon and the star) to locate our latitude on Earth. Polaris is about 0.7 degrees from the precise North Pole, so with Earth’s rotation, it also creates its own small circle in the sky at night, however, it is the only star that is constant in the sky.
Polaris is also a star, so it’s so bright. It consists of the alpha-polaris, the main and brightest star, and two very close small stars, so that, at first glance, they look like a single star.
Earth moves in a movement called precession. This means that our axis moves in a circle for an era of approximately 26,000 years. This means Polaris has not been above our North Pole as it is now. In ancient Egypt, the northern star was Thuban, from the constellation Draco, and in about 12,000 years, it will be Vega, from the constellation Lyra, which will appear to be an even brighter lighthouse than Polaris.
Add it to your favorites without problems later. Then send your organized collection to your children or create your own personalized lesson plan.
Warning: you are about to disable cookies. If you wish to create an account with us in the future, you must activate cookies before doing so.
To what extent would you like to Education.com your friends and colleagues?
Thank you for your feedback!