- Stars with a name
- Polaris
Polaris
α Ursae Minoris
Polaris is a yellow-white star, in the constellation Ursa Minor. The light you see from it tonight left it around 1593.
Where to find it
From mid-northern latitudes, such as New York, Rome or Tokyo, it never sets: it circles the pole all night, all year.
Bright enough to see even from a city. Apparent magnitude 1.97.
What it’s like
It gives off 2,496 times as much light as the Sun.
Its surface is at about 5,800 degrees.
It is 432.6 light years away: 4092 trillion kilometres.