Where is the North Star?

The polar star has long been known to mankind. Ancient Greek poets composed legends about it and sang it in myths. And travelers, discovering new lands, along this heavenly light, found their way home.

The fact that the North Star is in the Northhemisphere, is known even to a schoolboy. However, few of our contemporaries know that it is a triple star system, 120 times greater than our Sun in diameter. The light flux emitted by this celestial luminary has a variable value. The polar star seems to pulsate, sometimes yielding to the meaning of this parameter to Sirius.

Our article What bright stars will tell you about other heavenly stars.

Where is the North Star and how to find it

First you need to find the night skysimilar to a bucket with a handle constellation Ursa Major. It consists of seven stars. To determine the location of the Polar star, it is necessary to use those that visually form the bucket wall opposite the handle. These stars are called Merak and Dubha. Mentally connect them with a line, and then extend it upwards by a distance five times the length of the segment between the above-mentioned stars. At the end of this line there will be the Polar Star, which enters the constellation of the Little Ursa.

To find the directions of the world, it is necessary from Polarstars to lower perpendicular to the horizon. The point of intersection of these lines will point to the North. The East will be on the right, and the West on the left. About other ways to determine your location, you can read in the article How to determine the sides of the world.