Ya'll are on it today. Want a good one?

Question

I worked as an astronomer at a planetarium for about six years, and I used to get all kinds of questions. One of the most common was "where's the north star?" and "I thought it was the brightest star in the sky! Isn't it?"

How about it gang, how do you find the north star, and how bright is it? Please include references, or links, as I am asking this to help educate others on something that is a common misconception....

Pretty good, Beach Bum, but the little dipper is pretty hard to spot, and in my experience a lot of people seem to think that the Pleides are the little dipper! Just a little more detail on how to find it using star hopping, and I think this question is nailed!

Answer 1

Polaris is the north star currently, but it isnt exactly the centerpoint where all the stars spin around. Is also is nowhere near the brightest star in the sky...in fact its #48 (which is still pretty bright) on the list, with #1 being Sirius. link to the list is below. As far as finding Polaris its the bright star at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. Actually to add on, the way it was used in navigation was that anywhere north of the equator, the angle between the horizon and the north star is your latitude. So if you live in say Washington DC, which is at around 38.5 degrees north, you should look for the North star around 38.5 degrees above the horizon.

to follow up on your comment...ok, i'll do it from North America during this time of year. Face North. look about 45 degrees up and thats it. Polaris should be bright right around there. Follow the hand off to the right to the 'cup'. The big dipper is a little farther to the east, ne or so, and the handle points down. But remember this is from North America around this time of year, it will vary depending on the season and such, which you should know if you worked in a planetarium. Hows that! 10 points! :) and check out the new link i put below, about half way down theres a star chart of the big and little dippers...

Answer 2

Well, it's true that Polaris is not all that bright, and people sometimes find locating the big dipper asterism difficult (especially when it is at it's lowest in the sky).

For those who find it a bit difficult to find the big dipper, maybe they can find the sun! The sun sets in some westerly direction, northwest during the summer and southeast during the winter. If they use some common sense (or have a compass or a map) they can find due geographic west. Also, they need to find their latitude, in degrees.

Once that is found they just need to face west, and make a half right turn. Then, holding out their fist at arms length move the fist upwards a total of one tenth the number of degrees (your fist is about ten degrees, at arms length). For example, if your latitude is 42 degrees you will count up 4 fists and one finger (each finger is about 2 degrees). The most conspicuous star (but not by much) will be the north star, and at that point your friends may be able to find Ursa Minor, for confirmation (it is, indeed, the last star in the tail (or handle of the little dipper).

Another confirmation: find the star you think is the north star and relate it to your position and some unmoving ground object (a tree, a hill, such as that). Come back in six hours: if your star is still there you have found Polaris--all the other stars will have moved 90 degrees.

Answer 3

Here is an answer I put up yesterday when someone was asking about the brightest star and many people said the north star. . .



I don't believe the misinfomation these answers have!

So many people have said "The North Star" or "Polaris" or even "Alpha Ursa Minoris" that it makes me want to cry.

Those who said Sirus, congradulations, that is the brightest star, excluding our sun.

To those who said Polaris (and especially the person who said that the north star was the morning star), I suggest that you do the little research it would take to find out that Polaris is actually fairly dim, and barely makes it on a list of the 50 brightest stars.

This comes from people confusing brightness with importance. While Polaris is not very bright, it is very important.


Polaris is very close to the north celestial pole (about 1 degree off), so that from anyplace north of the equator, if you can find Polaris (remembering that is not that bright) you know which direction is north.

This fact was invalauable before the invention of new-fangled devices like compasses and GSP. It helped travelers and particularlly sailors from the past find their way home.

A very important star indeed.

Now, I will not get into the fact soon (comparatively) Polaris will not be the north star any longer, that would take way to much space. . .

Answer 4

The North Star is the last star in the handle of the little dipper. It is not the brightest star in the nighttime sky as it is currently a magnitude 2 star but it is visible above most stars. Check out the book "The Milky Way And Other Galaxies (Our Solar System)" by Dana Meachen Rau or "Exploring the Night Sky: The Equinox Astronomy Guide for Beginners" by Terence Dickinson and John Bianchi both very good books.

Answer 5

The north star is not the brightest star. Find the big dipper. Look at the front "lip" of the "laddle". Look up from there and there will be a bright star(This is NOT the north star). You will see kind of a circle of stars and inside of them is a blank space. If you look harder, there will be the north star, which is relatively dim.