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A Journey to the End of Time

The Solar System in 3D, in real time

A simulation of the Solar System driven by real ephemerides. The Sun, the planets, Pluto and the major moons, space probes, the International Space Station, nearby stars and the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way are where they really are at the chosen moment. You can run time from 1700 to 2100, fly from one object to another and look at the sky from anywhere on Earth.

Polaris

Star

Facts

Distance
about 520 light-years (NASA in 2006: about 430)
Spectral class
F7 Ib-II
Diameter
about 54 times the Sun
Apparent magnitude
2.02
Distance from the north celestial pole
0.74° (in 2000)

Polaris, the North Star, is a yellow supergiant of spectral class F7 Ib-II, less than a degree from the north celestial pole: according to NASA it shines more than 2000 times as brightly as the Sun. It is actually a system of three stars, and the main one is the Cepheid closest to us.

Cepheids change brightness in a regular way and are used to measure the distances of galaxies and the expansion of the universe. The Hubble telescope was the first to see directly its closest companion, about 3 billion km from the main star.

Sources