Polaris

navigation · stars · northern sky

The North Star. Polaris sits nearly directly above Earth's North Pole, making it the perfect guide for anyone traveling north at night. Explorers and sailors have used it to find their way for thousands of years.

Yellow supergiant. Polaris is a type of star called a yellow supergiant, which means it is much bigger and brighter than our sun. Even though it is thousands of times farther away than our sun, we can still see it clearly from Earth without a telescope.

Brightest in Ursa Minor. Polaris is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor, which is also called the Little Bear. You can spot it by finding the Big Dipper and following its pointer stars.

Less than one degree away. Polaris sits less than one degree away from Earth's north celestial pole, which is why it stays in almost exactly the same place in the sky all night long. This makes it incredibly useful for navigation and finding true north.