The first indication that the North Star was more than it appeared to be came in 1780, when William Herschel examined it through his telescope.
Located in the constellation Ursa Minor, Polaris is actually a triple star system. This is, of course, the North Star, also known as Polaris (and many other aliases).īut here’s the thing: Polaris isn't one star. This beacon happens to line up almost perfectly with the invisible axis on which Earth rotates (though it’s still about. All you need is a clear night sky.įrom our perspective, the stars appear to slowly move in vast circles around what seems to be a fixed point of light more or less directly above the North Pole. As savvy travelers have known for millennia, above the equator you don’t need GPS or a compass to figure out which way is north.
