Star
Polaris
Polaris is a yellow-white star 433 light-years away, seen as it was 433 years ago, shining 2 496 times as bright as the Sun.
The North Star: it sits less than a degree from the north celestial pole, so the northern sky turns around it. It is three stars, not one.
See it live
It is on the live 3D map, where it really is.
Key facts
- Distance
- 433 light-years
- Brightness from Earth
- magnitude 1.97
- Spectral type
- F7:Ib-IIv SB
- Catalogue
- HIP 11767
See it from here
Bright enough to see with your own eyes from a dark place.
How the map draws it
Drawn as a point of light, sized by how bright it looks from where you are — the kind of thing, not this exact one.