North Star- Doomsday or am i just trippin?

Question

Last night it was very clear out and i noticed the north star brighter then normal. the more i think about it all winter i couldn't see it till yesterday and wow was it ever bright. I thought i might get other peopels opinion.

Answer 1

Interesting that Polaris was magnitude 3 in Ptolemy's day (200 AD) but has now brightened up to magnitude 2.01

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 sky (besides the Sun) is Sirius A (8.6 light years away from earth), Polaris is magnitude 2 and 431 light years away from earth.

Recent research reported in Science suggests that Polaris is 2.5 times brighter today than when Ptolemy observed it (now 2 mag, antiquity 3 mag).

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."

If it can brighten up by 1 magnitude in 1800 years how bright will it have become after 26000 years when it is its turn to be the pole star again?

A TRINARY SYSTEM

Polaris is not one star but three: 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; about the distance from our Sun to Uranus) from Polaris A, explaining why its light is swamped by its close and much brighter companion.

Polaris is 431 light years (132 parsecs) 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 in 2400 AU distance, and C a very close dwarf on a 18.5 AU 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. 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.

AFTER POLARIS' REIGN AS POLE STAR IS OVER

Gamma Cephei (also known as Alrai, situated at 45 light-years away) will become closer to the northern celestial pole than Polaris around 3000 AD, and be at its closest approach around 4000 AD.

The "title" then will pass to Iota Cephei (ι Cephei, situated 115 light-years away) some time around 5200 AD.

The first magnitude star Vega will then become the North Star by AD 14,000, due to Precession of the equinoxes.

Vega is the fifth brightest in the sky and a mere 25 light years away from us.

The precession process is slow, but cumulative. A complete precession cycle covers a period of approximately 25,765 years, Thus Vega was last the Pole Star when it fulfilled that role around 12000 BC. and Polaris took over from Thuban in 1900 BC and will reign again for about 4000 years from 24000 AD.

Answer 2

It was a clear night and you could see the north star more clearly. Nothiing to do with doomsday - that star has no significance beyond the fact that it is the one nearest to being directly over the north pole at the moment. Eventually it won't even be the north star any more

Answer 3

Your trippin. No it was just a clear night outside that's all. Do you have any idea how far away the North star is? It is light years away from earth. I sometimes stop and check out the constalations too and they are amazing.

Answer 4

Polaris (the North megastar) is approximately 3/4 of a level from genuine north. in case you think of you observed it in the northwest, you're puzzled approximately the two your guidelines or your constellations. the least puzzling thank you to discover Polaris is to enlarge a line via the two stars on the tip of the large Dipper's bowl to the north.

Answer 5

Last night was an extremely stable atmosphere and perfect for stargazing,so it was not your imagination that brought about the clarity you so eloquently described.

Answer 6

It's an earth atmospheric effect. Or you're trippin.

Answer 7

It hasn't changed brightness and it's been there all winter.