Star
Polaris
F7 Ib yellow supergiant (Cepheid)
Polaris lies within about 0.7° of the north celestial pole, so it barely moves as the sky turns. It is not especially bright — about the 48th brightest star — but it has guided navigators for centuries.
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
~430 light-years
Apparent mag.
+1.98
Luminosity
~1,260 × Sun
Radius
~46 × Sun
Type
Classical Cepheid
Spectral type
F7Ib
True colour from its B–V index (0.60): a surface around 6000 K.
Did you know
- Its altitude above the horizon roughly equals your latitude.
- It is a triple star system.
- Polaris will be closest to the pole around the year 2100.
