Polaris, also known as ‘pole star’ or ‘North Star’, is Arguffy the most famous star body hung in the Western night sky of Hemisthere. For centuries it has served as a vital reference point for explorers who browse both the physical oceans of the Earth and in the Celestial Star field above.
Its application is reflected in the fact that the entire night sky seems to turn around. This happens because the location of Polaris is closely aligned with the northern rotational axis, which is known as the heavenly pole when projected outwards towards space. However, Polaris is not the first star of the North to shine in humanity, nor will it be the last.
The earth is involved in a constant gravitational pull with the moon and the sun, which over time has created a lump in the equator of our planet, according to NASA. As a result, the Earth’s rotation axis has developed a distinctive bamboleo, known by scientists as axial precession, which sees that the heavenly pole draws a wide and lazy circle on a beod of approximately 26,000 years of stars, nearby
Keep reading to discover more the stars of the past north, present and future, including how to find them for you in the night sky in the northern hemisphere. New amateur stargazers in the night sky may want to use our best Stargazing applications available in 2025, many of which have free functionality, and use augmented reality technology to help you find polaris and navigate the stars.
1 – Polaris – The current North Star
Polaris is the logical starting point for any North Star tour, since he is the head of the prevailing title and a key reference point for many who try to find their path around the night sky. The current North Star can easily find the great asterism of Dipper in Ursa Minor, which is a great overload at this time of year.
Draw an imaginary line of the magnitude 2.3 Star Merak, which forms the outer base of the ‘bowl’, through Dubhe, the star placed as the ‘spill tip’ of asterism. Follow that line out and the next equally bright star you find on this road will be polaris.
This bright point of light is, in fact, a triple star system, he thought that only two of the stars are visible through a telescope in the backyard. The largest of the stellar trio is a supergigent star that burns more than 2,000 times brighter than our sun, according to NASA. Polaris will continue to be the star of the pole to come a few types, until the rotational axis of the earth inexorably wanders in its 26,000 -year bamboleo.
2 – Thuban
Jumping in time, Thuban positioned himself as a star of the north about 4,700 years ago, as an early civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt, according to NASA. Thuban is located about 270 years of land of the Earth in the Draco constellation, hence its official Alpha Draconis name, and consists of a pair or stars known as an ‘eclipsest binary’.
In 2020, a team of scientists revealed that the two stars thesis regularly eclipse in the course of its 51 -day orbital period from the perspective of the earth, which leads to periodic falls in the base brightness.
A good way to find Thuban is to locate the bright stars Phecda and Megrez that are part of the ‘bowl’ of Big Dipper’s famous asterism in the Ursa Major constellation, which is located in a large overload at this time of the year. Draw a line from Phecda through Megrez to space continuing for twice the distance that separates the two stars guides and you will find the sky patch containing Thuban.
3 – Kocab and Pherkad – The ‘Guardians of the Pole’.
Both Kocab and Pherkad were close to the heavenly post about 3.00 years ago, giving them the nickname of ‘Guardians of the pole’, according to the Stargazing Earthsky.org website. Kocab was particularly close to the heavenly pole between 1700 a. C.-300 CE, and may even have referred as “polaris” by some in ancient times, according to the University of Illinois Urbano-Champaign.
The star duo is shortly easy to find once he knows the location of Polaris, since the three belong to the same constellation Ursa Minor, or the ‘Little Bear’. Ursa Minor has a pan -shaped contour with a ‘bowl’ and ‘mango’, with polaris is located at the end of the handle, while Kochab and Pherkad form the outer edge of the ‘Bowl’.
Some archaeologists believe that the ancient Egyptians may have oriented Giza’s great pyramids to face an alignment of Kocab and Mizar stars, a star in the Big Dipper Asterm, whose were in the opposition era of the pole. However, there are content as to which stars were used to guide the pyramids, an important distinction, since it has a direct relationship of our understanding when exactly they are counted, according to the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands.
4 – Errai.
The K -Type type star, or Gamma Cephei to give it its official name, is the first future star of the north on our list. In only 2,200 years, Errai will be located only 3 degrees from the North Heavenly Pole in the night sky, according to the University of Virginia, ending the Polaris reign.
Gamma Cephei are two real stars, a binary stars system located about 45 light years from the Earth in the Cepheus constellation. Its main star is the host of a gas giant similar to Jupiter, whose discovery was first announced in 1988, before being quickly retired due to the lack of confidence in the data, according to NASA. Its existence was confirmed by a subsequent study, and had not removed the leg, the planet, called Gamma Cephei AB, would have to offer as the first exoplanet discovered beyond our system.
You can find Errai using the same trick used to locate Polaris. Simply draw an imaginary line of Dubhe, the tip of the bowl in the great asterism of Dipper, through and the past Polaris. The next bright star on that path will be Errai.
5 – Alderamín
In around 5,000 years, Alderamin, another star in the Cepheus constellation, will be crowned by the Northern Star, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich website. Many observers have compared Cepheus’s five stars with the drawing of a child’s house. After that visualization, Errai marks the top of the ceiling, while the magnitude of 1.5 Alderamine stars forms the lower right base. It can be found by placing the Drowar and Caph stars in the Cassiopeia constellation in the form of ‘W’. Draw a line from Shedar through CAPH and beyond, and Alderamin will be directly on this path.
6 – DENB
The magnitude of 1.2 stars Deneb passed near the Celestial North Pole 18,000 years ago Urban-Champaign University of IllinoisAnd again the year 9,800 CE, at which time it will be about seven degrees from the post.
To detect it, simply look at the eastern sky after the spring of the sunset, where you will see the trio of bright stars that form the asterism of the summer triangle. Deneb will form the lower left point of the triangle in relation to the horizon.
7 – Vega
The Celestial Northern Pole pointed to the brilliant star Vega short years ago, at a time when our ancestors who collect hunters wandered around the earth. NASA has estimated that Vega will become the Northern Star once again in about 12,000 years from now on, as the Earth’s rotation axis continues its lazy bamboleo through the stars.
Vega is one of the brightest stars of the northern hemisphere, whose statement of scientific fame occurred in 1984, when scientists discovered the first evidence of what turned out to be a star album of almost 100 billion miles in diameter. Vega is the bright fifth visible star in the northern hemisphere. Vega forms the upper point of the famous summer triangle.
Lovers of the night sky who expect to see more closely the night sky should guide for the best binocular offers and the best telescope offers in 2025.
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