The northern stars turn around Polaris and the North Celestial Pole in a composite spanning multiple hours during a single night in the summer of 2014. The bright point at the center is Polaris, our ...

Polaris, also known as the 'Pole Star' or 'North Star', is arguably the most famous stellar body to hang in the western hemisphere's night sky. For centuries it has served as a vital waypoint for ...

To find the North Star, look due north (opposite where the sun is at noon time), and look not quite half way up in the sky (assuming you live at about 42 degrees North Latitude). On a late October ...

This illustration shows how Earth’s spin axis (blue) is tilted from perpendicular, causing it to precess and trace out a circle over about 26,000 years. The brightest star nearest the North Celestial ...

Overlay of a star-trail photograph, in which stars (white arcs) appear to rotate around the north celestial pole, and a numerical simulation of time-invariant polarization lines (dark lines) as ...

Stephen has degrees in science (Physics major) and arts (English Literature and the History and Philosophy of Science), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication. Stephen has degrees in ...

How much of the sky can you see at any one time? This, of course, assumes you are looking up from a wide-open, flat field or out on an ocean liner with nothing but a flat horizon no matter which way ...

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! Others prefer Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings or Cheery Solstice. The last one I made up and hopefully won’t catch on. December 22nd is the start of winter in the ...

The equatorial coordinate system projects Earth's latitude and longitude onto the celestial sphere, using declination (angular distance from the celestial equator, measured in degrees) and right ...

One of the most famous stars in the night sky, as seen from the Northern Hemisphere, is Polaris, the North Star. Technically known as Alpha Ursae Minoris, as it is the brightest star in Ursa Minor the ...