Polaris

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/polaris

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the designation?Alpha Ursae Minoris
2. What is the stellar classification?Yellow Supergiant (Polaris Aa), with companions
3. What is Polaris and why does it stay in the same place?Polaris is the North Star. It sits almost exactly above Earth's North Pole, so as Earth turns, Polaris stays almost still in the sky.
4. How do sailors and pilots use Polaris to find directions?Sailors and pilots point to Polaris to find true north. By seeing where Polaris is, they can figure out their latitude and keep on course.

North Celestial Pole: The point in the sky directly above the Earth's geographic North Pole, around which stars appear to rotate.
Cepheid Variable: A pulsating star whose period of pulsation is directly related to its intrinsic luminosity, used for distance determination.
Cosmic Distance Ladder: A series of astronomical methods used to determine the distances to celestial objects, starting with nearby objects and extending to the farthest reaches of the universe.
Axial Precession: The slow, conical wobble of a rotating body's axis, causing a gradual change in the orientation of the axis over long periods.