Polaris: the landmark of travelers becomes brighter every year

The polar star is in the constellation of the Little Ursa, and its location is known to most residents of the northern hemisphere. Due to the fact that it is located less than 1 ° from the North Pole of the world and in the course of time its position varies very little, this star serves as a sign of the northern direction. Her height above the horizon coincides with the geographical breadth of the observer. This feature for many centuries provided her fame as a guiding star, although she is not the brightest in our sky.

The full name of this starry sky object is Polar A (α UMi A). It is a pulsating variable star, which refers to supergiants. But in reality the Polar Star is not one star, but three, which form a triple star system. The biggest among them is just Polar A, which is 2000 times brighter than the Sun and exceeds our star by 4.5 times by mass. The second star in this trio is Polar Ab, which is also heavier than the Sun, but only 1.39 times. This star can be seen in a telescope at a certain distance from Polyarnaya A.

Polar A and Polar Ab form a double star around which the third rotates around - Polar R. By its mass, it is close to Polar Ab, only slightly inferior to it, and is located so close to the binary system that it was discovered only thanks to the Hubble telescope images .

Astronomers also managed to find out that the North Star is a pulsing variable star, the brightness of which is gradually changing. Over the time of observations, since the beginning of the twentieth century, the brightness of the Polar Star has increased by 15%.