Once darkness falls, cast your eye in the direction of north. In fact, our target tonight lies extremely close to the North Celestial Pole — so close that we now call Polaris the North Star. You’ll find it at the very end of the handle of the Little Dipper, which is smaller and fainter than the more famous and easily found Big Dipper. Early this evening, the Little Dipper lies to the right of the Big Dipper’s cup. The Little Dipper’s handle is pointed down toward the ground, while the Big Dipper’s handle points upward.
Despite its special location in the sky — appearing fixed as all other Northern Hemisphere stars rotate around it — Polaris is not particularly bright, ranking 47th (it is magnitude 2.0). It is a Cepheid-class variable star whose magnitude changes by just 0.03 magnitude every four days.
Polaris is also a multiple-star system with two known companions. Only the farther of the two can be split from the primary; you’ll find it about 18” away, shining at magnitude 8.7.
Sunrise: 5:34 A.M.
Sunset: 8:33 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:43 A.M.
Moonset: 10:48 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (7%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.
For a look ahead at more upcoming sky events, check out our full Sky This Week column.
