The North Star

Polaris, Lodestar, the Pole Star, or whatever you know it by, the North Star is an important part of stargazing. Since the early days of recorded history, Polaris has been watched on a nightly basis by nearly everyone. It gives bearing to sailors lost at sea, travelers find their way east, and is even possibly used by animals as a source of navigation. The reason it can be used for such things is how close it lies on the north celestial pole. It is easily spotted by it's bright light, how it nearly never moves from the same place, and by it being a part of the Ursa Major constellation.

The North star is actually a star cluster. Seven different stars, at different distances from the earth, are close enough together that they look like one big star. It is also interesting to note that due to the procession of the earth's equinoxes, the North Star will not always be the northernmost star. Bear in mind that this will take an incredible amount of time to come to pass, so we can safely trust it being the North Star during our lives.

This is a great star to get used to finding. You never know when you may need to find it in the night sky to catch your bearings!

Micah

This image is a time-lapse shot showing how stars revolve around Polaris while it stays in the same central location.