Astronomy · Stars

Polaris

The North Star, near the north celestial pole.

ScienceBeginner

The star that barely moves

Polaris lies very close to the north celestial pole — the point in the sky directly above Earth's North Pole. As Earth rotates, the other stars appear to circle Polaris, while it stays almost stationary, which is why it has guided navigators for centuries.

Finding north with it

The two stars at the end of the Big Dipper's bowl are the 'pointer stars': a line drawn through them leads to Polaris. Its altitude above the horizon also approximates an observer's latitude in the Northern Hemisphere.

Not truly permanent

Polaris is the pole star only for now. Earth's slow axial precession gradually shifts the pole among different stars over thousands of years, so Polaris's role as the North Star is temporary on astronomical timescales.

Knowledge connections

How this connects across Asteria Star — scientific, cultural, and astrological links are kept separate.

Scientific connections

Belongs toUrsa Minor
Associated withThe Little Dipper
Associated withAll-Sky Star Atlas
Associated withBright Star Map

Gallery

Verified imagery of Polaris will appear here.

Prepared for official NASA / ESA integration. We publish only openly licensed and public-domain media, with full credit, license, and source for every image.

Our sources & licensing policy →

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Fast facts

Constellation: Ursa Minor
Role: Current northern pole star
Type: Cepheid variable (multiple-star system)
Use: Northern navigation reference

Key points

Sits within about a degree of the north celestial pole.
Appears nearly fixed while other stars wheel around it.
A multiple-star system whose primary is a Cepheid variable.

Data & provenance

Stable ID: star:polaris
Type: Star
Domain: Scientific connections
Relationships: 4
Graph version: 1.0.0

Dataset membership

Stars

Open data

In the graph export: graph.json · graph.jsonld

Planned API: GET /api/v0/entities/star:polaris

Scientific quality

56% complete

Reviewed2 sourcesv1.0.0

Completeness: Partial
Source coverage: Complete
Citation coverage: Complete
Relationship coverage: Complete
Review coverage: Complete
Image coverage: None
Timeline coverage: None
Localization coverage: None

Scientific entity. See the evidence framework and authority dashboard.

Provenance & sources

review 2026.1

Asteria Scientific Review Process · verification: sourced · accurate

High evidenceconfirmed
Polaris is the current northern pole star, a Cepheid variable in Ursa Minor lying close to the north celestial pole.
Source: CDS — SIMBAD Astronomical Database · CC BY 4.0 (CDS)

Reviewed by the internal Asteria Scientific Review Process — not an external institutional review. See the evidence framework and authority dashboard.

Scientific citations

Real, source-backed references — primary papers first, then datasets and institutional sources. Formatted through the citation engine; nothing is fabricated.

Archive pagePolaris (α UMi) — ESA Gaia astrometry

ESA — Gaia DPAC

Cite (APA / BibTeX)

ESA — Gaia DPAC (n.d.). Polaris (α UMi) — ESA Gaia astrometry. ESA — Gaia DPAC. https://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/

@misc{cite:gaia-star-polaris,
  title        = {Polaris (α UMi) — ESA Gaia astrometry},
  organization = {ESA — Gaia DPAC},
  year         = {n.d.},
  url          = {https://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/},
  note         = {Gaia parallax and photometry for Polaris (α UMi).}
}

Archive pageSIMBAD entry: Polaris (α UMi)

CDS — SIMBAD

Cite (APA / BibTeX)

CDS — SIMBAD (n.d.). SIMBAD entry: Polaris (α UMi). CDS — SIMBAD. https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/

@misc{cite:simbad-star-polaris,
  title        = {SIMBAD entry: Polaris (α UMi)},
  organization = {CDS — SIMBAD},
  year         = {n.d.},
  url          = {https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/},
  note         = {SIMBAD identifications and measurements for Polaris (α UMi).}
}

Sources & references

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
ESAEuropean Space Agency
European missions, observatories, and space science imagery.
IAUInternational Astronomical Union
Official naming, definitions, constellation boundaries, and astronomical nomenclature.

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ESA — Gaia DPAC (n.d.). Polaris (α UMi) — ESA Gaia astrometry. ESA — Gaia DPAC. https://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/ @misc{cite:gaia-star-polaris, title = {Polaris (α UMi) — ESA Gaia astrometry}, organization = {ESA — Gaia DPAC}, year = {n.d.}, url = {https://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/}, note = {Gaia parallax and photometry for Polaris (α UMi).} }

CDS — SIMBAD (n.d.). SIMBAD entry: Polaris (α UMi). CDS — SIMBAD. https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/ @misc{cite:simbad-star-polaris, title = {SIMBAD entry: Polaris (α UMi)}, organization = {CDS — SIMBAD}, year = {n.d.}, url = {https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/}, note = {SIMBAD identifications and measurements for Polaris (α UMi).} }

Sources & references

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration

Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.

Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.

ESAEuropean Space Agency

European missions, observatories, and space science imagery.

IAUInternational Astronomical Union

Official naming, definitions, constellation boundaries, and astronomical nomenclature.

Polaris

The star that barely moves

Finding north with it

Not truly permanent

Knowledge connections

Scientific connections

Gallery

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Aldebaran

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Polaris

The star that barely moves

Finding north with it

Not truly permanent

Knowledge connections

Scientific connections

Gallery

Vega

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Sirius

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Polaris

The star that barely moves

Finding north with it

Not truly permanent

Knowledge connections

Scientific connections

Gallery

Related entries

Vega

Aldebaran

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Polaris

The star that barely moves

Finding north with it

Not truly permanent

Knowledge connections

Scientific connections

Gallery

Related entries

Vega

Aldebaran

Sirius

Betelgeuse

You might also explore