Why Polaris Is the Most Confusing Star in the Sky

The problem with Polaris, the North Star.
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For centuries, we've relied on the North Star to guide us across the Earth. A static, bright beacon in the northern sky, Polaris serves as a reliable method of navigation… or does it? This star proves far more challenging to study than it initially appears. From its distance, to its secret companions, we’re unravelling the mysteries of Polaris - mysteries that only grow stranger the closer we look.

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0:00 The Problem with Polaris
1:04 Finding the North Star
2:08 Triple Star System
4:36 Cepheids: Standard Candles
6:34 Polaris Aa Is Weird
11:54 Are Our Models Wrong?
16:06 The Age Paradox
18:18 Polaris Won't Be the North Star Forever

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References:
“Origin of Strange 'Blue Straggler' Stars Pinned Down”, via space.com https://astrumspace.info/bluestraggler
“Hubble Space Telescope Trigonometric Parallax of Polaris B”, via iop.org https://astrumspace.info/companionstar
“Probing Polaris”, via eso.org https://astrumspace.info/probingpolaris
“Finding magnetic north: an extraordinary magnetic field detection in Polaris and first results of a magnetic survey of classical Cepheids”, via ras.ac.uk https://astrumspace.info/polarismagneticnorth
“Astronomers Find Spots on Surface of Polaris”, via sci.news https://astrumspace.info/sunspots
“Toward Ending the Polaris Parallax Debate: A Precise Distance to Our Nearest Cepheid from Gaia DR”, via iop.org https://astrumspace.info/polarisdistance
“The Period Change of the Cepheid Polaris Suggests Enhanced Mass Loss”, via iop.org https://astrumspace.info/unstablephase
“The Period Changes of Polaris”, via jstor.org https://astrumspace.info/periodincrease
“Precise Radial Velocities of Polaris: Detection of Amplitude Growth”, via iop.org https://astrumspace.info/Cepheidamplitude
“Periods of 25 Variable Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud”, via harvard.edu https://astrumspace.info/Cepheidrelationship

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Credits:
Writer: Julia Masselos
Video Editor: Nick Shishkin
Researcher: Edie Abrahams
Script Editor: Damaris McColgan
Thumbnail Designer: Peter Sheppard
Channel Manager: Georgina Brenner
Production Manager: Raquel Taylor
Head of Astrum: Jess Jordan
Creator of Astrum: Alex McColgan

With special thanks to:
NASA/ESO/ESA

#astrum #space #polaris #northstar

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