Locate the North Star with your smart phone. There are many smart phone applications that work something like a telescope. You enter your location, or allow the phone to find your location, and then point your phone to the sky. The phone acts as interactive map, identifying stars and constellations for you. Some applications can also enhance visuals, allowing you to see stars more easily.
Sky Guide is an application for iPhones. The app can track your location and time. Then, you can hold your phone up to the sky and it will provide you a map. It can identify different constellations and stars. It works the same as SkyGuide, but with a slightly higher resolution.
You can better see stars and constellations through your phone when using Stellarium. Invest in a star atlas. Star atlases have been around for a long time. If the idea of carrying your phone around while stargazing kills the fun for you, consider buying a star atlas instead. You should also always take an atlas with you when hiking in the event your phone battery dies. A star atlas is a book that breaks down the night sky by the region and time of year.
You can use the graphics and charts provided in a star atlas to locate the North Star on any given night. Every star atlas is slightly different. There's usually a guide in back that provides information on how constellations are labeled. For example, small stars may be labeled by dots. Major stars, like the North Star, may be marked by large, red dots.
Select the map for your specific region and time of year and use that map as a guide. Bring a flashlight with you as you go out to stargaze so you can consult the map as needed. It can take a while to get proficient at using a star atlas. Make sure you get lots of practice so, if you need to find the North Star in a pinch, you're well-prepared to use your atlas. Be able to find directions when the need arises unexpectedly and you're without your compass, or GPS, or atlas.
Plan ahead with your computer. You can use desktop applications for your computer to know how the sky will look on a given night. These devices can help you plan ahead.
You'll go outside with a rough idea of where you can expect to find the North Star. In addition to phone applications, Stellarium also provides a desktop application you can download on your computer to locate the North Star. It's available for Linux, Mac, and Windows. Your background would be the night sky, adjusted for your region and time of year. It will show you what you can expect the night sky to resemble on a given night, locating the North Star for you. You'll know where in the sky to look when you go out.
You can use this if you're planning on photographing the night sky. Based on your location and the time of year, PhotoPills will simulate the galactic arch for you.
This will form a map you can use later to locate the North Star. Method 3. Figure out which direction is north using two sticks. If you don't know what direction you're facing, finding constellations can be a struggle.
This can inhibit your ability to locate the North Star. Determining which direction is north can allow you to locate the North Star more easily.
You can use two sticks to do so. First, find two sticks. One stick should be slightly bigger than the other. Place the taller stick slightly ahead of the shorter one.
Line up one eye, forming a straight line between your eye and the two sticks. Wait for a star to appear in your line of vision. It if it moves up, you're facing east. If it moves down, you're facing west.
If it moves right, you're facing south. It if moves left, you're facing north. Create a shadow with sticks. If it's daytime, you may still be able to see the North Star. However, you'll be unable to rely on constellations as they're very difficult to see during the day. Instead, you can create a shadow with sticks and use that to locate north. Place a stick in the ground. Take a stone or other object and place it where the end of the stick's shadow falls.
The shadow will move, either growing shorter or longer. Place another stick at the end of the new shadow. Then, stand at a perpendicular angle to the shadow. You are now facing north. Pay attention to how moss is growing.
If you're in an area where moss grows, you can use moss to help you locate north. Look for moss on vertical structures, such as trees. Moss requires a damp atmosphere to grow.
This means moss usually grows on the north side of vertical structures, as the north side gets less sun.
Polaris the North Star is not a bright star. If the star you're seeing doesn't twinkle, it is probably a planet rather than a star, as they also appear very bright in the sky.
This role has changed hands a few times over the past millennia. We are lucky, because our North Star is currently very close to the north celestial pole. For example, astrophotographers must take this distance into account when they are aligning their telescopes.
What about from the Southern Hemisphere? The North Star cannot be seen from the Southern Hemisphere. Star gazers in this part of the world actually turn towards the other celestial pole the south celestial pole to observe the sky. Unfortunately, there are currently no bright stars near it! However, the stars of the famous Southern Cross constellation can be used to find celestial and due south. In fact, it is eight times the mass of our Sun and 2, times brighter—but because it is light years away from the Earth, its magnitude is only 2.
And, like many other stars in the Universe, we now know that the North Star is a multiple star system! Its first companion star was discovered by British astronomer William Herschel in This star is known as Polaris B and can be found using a simple telescope with a decent diameter. It has a magnitude of 9 and is And in , scientists found through the Hubble Space Telescope yet another companion close to Polaris A. This star is much smaller and is known as Polaris Ab.
Unfortunately, these partner stars cannot be seen with a simple telescope. But anyone with a pair of binoculars can still marvel at the gorgeous asterism known as the Engagement Ring, of which the North Star is the diamond! This star Polaris A also varies in brightness by a few percent across its 3.
When this variation in brightness was discovered in , it was greater than 0. But this star continues to surprise us… Unlike any other star, its brightness also changes with time! In , it only had a magnitude of 0. While the first show ended up being a bust, a relatively strong meteor shower was reported in Polaris is located in the constellation of Ursa Minor, the Little Bear.
It sometimes also goes by the name " Stella Polaris. Polaris, the North Star, lies at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper, whose stars are rather faint.
Its four faintest stars can be blotted out with very little moonlight or street lighting. The best way to find your way to Polaris is to use the so-called "Pointer" stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper , Dubhe and Merak.
Just draw a line between these two stars and extend it out about 5 times, and you eventually will arrive in the vicinity of Polaris. Interestingly, the Big and Little Dippers are arranged so that when one is upright, the other is upside down. In addition, their handles appear to extend in opposite directions.
Of course, the Big Dipper is by far the brighter of the two, appearing as a long-handled pan, while the Little Dipper resembles a dim ladle. Polaris is located at a distance of light-years from Earth and has luminosity nearly 4, times that of our sun. Polaris shines at 2nd magnitude. On this astronomers' scale, smaller numbers represent brighter objects, with the brightest stars and planets in the night sky at around magnitude zero or even negative magnitudes.
The North Star it is a "pulsing" star, a Cepheid variable , which appears to vary in brightness ever so slightly — only one tenth of a magnitude — over a time frame of just under four days.
If you have a small telescope and train it on Polaris, you just might notice a tiny companion star called Polaris B shining at 9th magnitude with a pale bluish tint.
This companion was first sighted by Sir William Herschel in just a year later, Herschel would discover the planet Uranus. Astronomers believe that the two stars — A and B — are separated by about 2, astronomical units — one astronomical unit a. The orbital period of the two stars may number in the many thousands of years. In , by studying the spectrum of Polaris, a third companion star Polaris C was discovered.
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