North Star - definition of North Star by The Free Dictionary North Star - definition of North Star by The Free Dictionary (Celestial Objects) the North Star another name for Polaris 1 Po•lar•is (poʊˈlɛər ɪs, -ˈlær-, pə-) n. the polestar or North Star, a star of the second magnitude situated close to the north pole of the heavens, in the constellation Ursa Minor: the outermost star in the handle of the Little Dipper. [1955–60; short for Medieval Latin stella polāris polar star] North Star Noun 1. North Star - the brightest star in Ursa Minor; at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper; the northern axis of the earth points toward it polar star , Polaris , pole star , polestar Little Bear , Ursa Minor - a constellation outside the zodiac that rotates around the North Star Little Dipper , Dipper - a cluster of seven stars in Ursa Minor; at the end of the dipper's handle is Polaris North Star noun Pole Star , Polaris , lodestar I could see the Bear and had identified the North Star.

Translations North Star n the North Star → la stella polare Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content . Link to this page: References in classic literature ? He pointed to where the North Star burned over the Khyber Pass. Little Mildred answered nothing, but watched the North Star and hummed a selection from recent Simla burlesque that had much delighted the White Hussars. View in context said the scout, shaking his head doubtingly; "When the sun is scorching the tree tops, and the water courses are full; when the moss on every beech he sees will tell him in what quarter the north star will shine at night.

View in context And first, as soon as it began to be dark, we kindled a fire in our little camp, which we kept burning, and prepared so as to make it burn all night, that the Tartars might conclude we were still there; but as soon as it was dark, and we could see the stars (for our guide would not stir before), having all our horses and camels ready loaded, we followed our new guide, who I soon found steered himself by the north star, the country being level for a long way. 'Living wage' is helping The acquisition underscores [our] continued commitment to providing quality service and high quality block, brick, landscape, and contractor supply products to the southern Minnesota and northern Iowa markets," says North Star Regional Manager Chad Grande. Already a key source of clay brick, concrete block and retaining wall units, natural stone veneers and landscaping materials, North Star Stone & Masonry has extended its southern Minnesota footprint by acquiring the Superior Concrete Block Co.

plant in Mankato, southwest of the Twin Cities North Star is gratified that the Board has made a change of the Chairman position, but this change falls far short of addressing the pro-shareholder corporate governance initiatives North Star has continuously sought, including elimination of the classified board and adding shareholder nominated directors to the Board. Star Names STAR NAMES Proper Names The naked-eye stars carry a huge number of names that range from the intimately familiar to the hopelessly obscure, each one having a different reason for being. Vega , the fourth brightest star in the sky, has over 40 different names! Star names are either of ancient origin, of more recent historical origin, or are assigned by astronomical organizations under the umbrella of the International Astronomical Union (the organization of professional research astronomers). No private organizations have the rights to name stars. The best-known and most-familiar names are "popular names," real names like those used for people. The oldest of all names, proper names are a mixed lot that descend from a variety of ancient (and even modern) languages that relate to the positions or the characters of the stars. Among the oldest are those from ancient Greek.

Sirius , for example, means "searing" or "scorching," appropriate for the brightest star in the sky. Procyon comes from the Greek "pro kion," before the dog," as from the northern hemisphere it rises before the "Dog Star," Sirius; Castor honors one of the ancient Greek warrior twins; Arcturus means "bear driver," as this brilliant star follows the Greater Bear around the pole. A smaller number ( Regulus , the "little king" in Leo), Polaris , the "pole star" in Ursa Minor ) come from Latin. By far the greatest number, however, hundreds of proper names, descend to us from the Arabic of the middle ages, when the astronomers of the Arabia adopted the Greek constellations from Ptolemy and applied their own names to the stars, most in some way appropriate to the locations of the stars within their parent constellations. "Deneb," for example, means "tail." The name appears in many forms, such as Deneb in Cygnus (the tail of the Swan), Denebola in Leo (the Lion's tail), and Deneb Kaitos in Cetus (the sea-monster's tail).

Others were derived from the constellations that the Arabs had made for themselves. When the Arabic texts were translated back into Latin, these star names were passed down to us, but often in a highly corrupted form that either changed the meaning, or in extreme cases left us with no meaning at all. Other names were mistakenly transferred from one star to another, so that a name might even refer to a different constellation (Greek or Arabic) rather than to the one of the star's actual residence. Greek Letter Names To bring order out the chaos of proper names, around the year 1600 Johannes Bayer, in what is now Germany, applied lower case Greek letter names to the stars more or less in order of brightness, which if followed strictly would render the brightest star in a constellation "Alpha," the second Beta," and so on. To the Greek letter name is appended the Latin possessive form of the constellation name.

Thus the brightest star in Lyra, Vega (an Arabic proper name), becomes Alpha of Lyra or Alpha Lyrae (where "Lyrae" means "of Lyra.") The brightness rule is commonly violated, however, as Bayer also clearly factored in the position of the star within the constellation, as in Ursa Major , where the stars of the Big Dipper are lettered west to east. As another good example, though Adhara in Canis Major (the Greater Dog) is first magnitude and the second brightest star in the constellation, it received "Epsilon," probably because of its lower (more southerly) position within the starry figure. With only 24 letters in the Greek alphabet, few stars could receive Greek letter names. Bayer therefore followed the lower-case Greek alphabet with upper case A and then lower-case Roman letters. These are rarely used nowadays, however, and only a few vestiges like " h Persei " (a star cluster in Perseus ) survive.

Though the number of names is increased by applying numerical superscripts to stars that fall near one another (a string of stars in Orion becoming Pi-1, Pi-2, Pi-3 Orionis , and so on, expressed as superscripts), the system was still limited to the brighter stars, faint naked-eye stars rarely qualifying. Others applied Greek and Roman letters to the later modern constellations. The eighteenth century's Nicholas-Louis de Lacaille was particularly notable for his work in the part of the southern hemisphere that Bayer could not see. Flamsteed Numbers To organize more of the naked eye stars, in the eighteenth century John Flamsteed (who created one of the great star catalogues of the time) listed the stars by position ( right ascension , the sky's analogue to terrestrial longitude) within the constellation boundaries. Serial numbers applied by Edmund Halley then gave the star's relative location from west to east within the constellation. For example, 1 Lyrae would be the western-most numbered star in Lyra, 2 Lyrae the next, and so on (Vega is 3 Lyrae). In general, first magnitude (and a few special) stars are commonly known by their proper names.

Greek-letter names are then used until they run out, and then the Flamsteed numbers. From England, Flamsteed could see only so far into the southern hemisphere, so deep southern constellations have no numbers. The handful of exceptions (30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud , the globular cluster 47 Tucanae ) are vestiges of other systems that did not survive. Catalogue Names To include yet more stars, constellations are dropped and the stars are named according to position, generally right ascension, or angle to the east of the Vernal Equinox . (The Vernal Equinox is the point in Pisces where the ecliptic, the path of the Sun, crosses the celestial equator going north and where we find the Sun on the first day of northern spring.) Catalogues fall into two broad categories: general and special interest. The most basic of the general variety is the "Bright Star Catalogue," which serially numbers 9000 naked-eye stars through sixth magnitude from west to east beginning at right ascension zero hours (zero degrees) for the year 1900.

( Precession , the 26,000-year wobble in the Earth's axis, changes the right ascensions with time, usually increasing them.) Though now published at Yale, it derives from a catalogue produced at Harvard, so the star names take on the name "HR" for "Harvard Revised." Vega = Alpha Lyrae = 3 Lyrae = HR 7001. Stars below naked-eye visibility need catalogue names too. The most famed general catalogue for fainter stars, the "Bonner Durchmusterung" (the Bonn Survey), was compiled in Germany in the nineteenth century and lists stars through around tenth magnitude (some 50 times fainter than the eye can see alone). It divides the sky into declination strips one degree wide and then serially numbers the stars from west to east according to the stars' right ascensions (for the year 1855). (Declination is the sky's analogue to terrestrial latitude; it gives the angular separation of a star from the celestial equator.) The catalogue name incorporates the declination.

Vega, for example, is also "BD+38° 3238," which means the 3238th star in the declination strip between 38 and 39 degrees north. The BD covers stars to -2 degrees declination (2 degrees south of the celestial equator). The rest of the southern hemisphere is covered by the "Cordoba Durchmusterung" (the Cordoba, Argentina, Survey), or CD. Canopus (HR 2326) is CD- 52°914, or the 914th listed star between declination 52 and 53 degrees south. BD and CD are sometimes combined as "DM" for "Durchmusterung." Precession has now moved many stars out of their original declination strips. The most commonly used catalogue for fainter (as well as brighter) stars is the Henry Draper (HD) Memorial Catalogue, which serially numbers stars through roughly tenth magnitude to the east of the vernal equinox (according to right ascension in the year 1900) independently of declination.

The HD catalogue, while a general tool for star names, is also a specialty catalogue, and was created to list the spectral classes of over 300,000 stars. Vega is HD 172167, Canopus HD 45348. In the 1960s over ten positional catalogues were combined into the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) star catalogue. It serially numbers over 250,000 stars (according to right ascensions for the year 1900) to ninth magnitude in 10 degree declination strips from north to south, each strip picking up where the last one left off. Vega is SAO 067174, Canopus SAO 234480. Though it enjoyed some popularity, it is no longer commonly in much use. The specialty Hipparcos Catalogue is also of general use. The Hipparcos satellite was flown in the 1990s to measure precise distances (through accurate parallaxes) to nearby stars. Over 100,000 stars are listed.

Vega is HIC 91262, Canopus HIC 30438. Beyond these and many other catalogues, fainter stars are named only by coordinates (right ascension and declination) for a specific year. The Hubble Space Telescope Guide Star Catalogue, for example, lists 19 million stars between 6th and 16th magnitude. Double and Multiple Stars A huge number of stars are double or multiple, the individuals locked in orbit around each other. The components of very wide doubles that have Greek letter names are often distinguished by applying superscripts to the Greek letters from east to west (as noted in the earlier section on Greek letter names). Zubenelgenubi , Alpha Librae, is a wide double; the western of the two is Alpha-1, the eastern Alpha-2, even though Alpha-2 is much the brighter. Most of these are not physical doubles but line of sight coincidences. When the stars are close to each other, a system of Roman letters generally applied in order of discovery or of descending brightness (often the same thing) is used. The principal component is "A," the next brightest "B," and so on.

Brilliant Sirius is accompanied by a faint white dwarf . The naked-eye star is Sirius A, the dim companion Sirius B. Close companions, particularly planets, are often given lower case letters. If a planet were to be discovered orbiting Sirius A (there is none so far as we know), it would be Sirius Ab, rendering Sirius itself Sirius Aa. Variable Stars A great many stars are variable in brightness. The first found, among them Mira and Algol , were bright and had proper or Greek letter names. But as more were discovered, astronomers needed a systematic naming system. Since the last Roman letter in any constellation was "Q," they adopted "R" for the first variable found that did not already have a name, to which was appended the Latin possessive of the constellation name. The first such variable known in Cygnus is thus R Cygni, the first in Aquila R Aquilae. The sequence continued with new discoveries to Z. Finding more, astronomers went back up the alphabet to use double letters, beginning with RR, then going to RS, RT...RZ, then to SS, ST...SZ, TT, TU...and finally down to ZZ.

To accommodate increasing numbers, the system then went to the top of the alphabet, to AA, AB...AZ, BB, BC...BZ, CC...and so on to QQ...QZ, with J left out to avoid confusion. After 334 letter combinations, astronomers just gave up and used "V" followed by a number, V335 Sagittarii following QZ Sagittarii. Through the names, the astronomers of the past 3000 years have brought order to the seeming chaos of the sky. All the stars you can see even through a relatively large telescope have names. We know them and know where they are. Copyright © James B. Kaler. All rights reserved. These contents are the property of the author and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the author's express consent except in fair use for educational purposes. This page was last modified on 14 February, 2014. Thanks to reader number . Pathways to Freedom | Secrets: Signs and Symbols | Follow the Drinking Gourd Teacher Tips Follow the Drinking Gourd Escaping slaves had to find their way north.

Northern states such as New York and Massachusetts had strong abolitionist societies and benevolent groups  both black and white  that would help escaping slaves. The slaves' final goal was Canada, north of the U.S. border. Slavery was not permitted there, and American laws that allowed people to capture runaway slaves had no effect. People trying to escape slavery had many clues they could rely on to find out where "north" actually was. They knew moss usually grew on the north sides of trees. They also observed that migrating birds flew north in the summer. What are some other ways escaping slaves could determine where north was? One of the best clues they could use to find north was to locate the North Star. The North Star is also called Polaris. Unlike other stars, it never changes position. It always points to the north. People have always used a group of stars to help them find the North Star. They have called this group of stars many names, depending on how they saw the picture created by the stars. Sometimes people thought the group looked like a Big Bear. In fact, the Latin name for this star group was Ursa Major, or Big Bear.

At other times, people thought the group of stars looked like a dipper  with a cup that had a very long handle. Slaves knew this group of stars as the Drinking Gourd. They sometimes used hollowed-out gourds to dip and drink water. The gourds looked just like long-handled cups. Two stars on the cups edge always point to the North Star . By finding the drinking gourd in the sky, people traveling at night could always find the North Star. Many escaping slaves — including Harriet Tubman, James Pennington, and Josiah Henson — may have “followed the Drinking Gourd” to freedom. Today, many people know of a song called “Follow the Drinking Gourd.” It talks about people escaping slavery by following clues to go north to freedom. The song is a combination of old ideas and new words by many musicians. Polaris - definition of Polaris by The Free Dictionary Polaris - definition of Polaris by The Free Dictionary (pə-lăr′ĭs) n.

A star located at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper, in the constellation Ursa Minor, approximately 408 light years from Earth, and almost at the north celestial pole. Also called North Star, polar star, polestar. [New Latin (Stēlla) Polāris, polar (star), from Latin polus, pole; see pole1.] Polaris (pəˈlɑːrɪs) n 1. (Celestial Objects) Also called: the Pole Star or the North Star the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor, situated slightly less than 1° from the north celestial pole. It is a Cepheid variable, with a period of four days. Visual magnitude: 2.08–2.17; spectral type: F8Ib 2. (Firearms, Gunnery, Ordnance & Artillery) a. a type of US two-stage intermediate-range ballistic missile, usually fired by a submerged submarine b. (as modifier): a Polaris submarine. [shortened from Medieval Latin stella polāris polar star] Po•lar•is (poʊˈlɛər ɪs, -ˈlær-, pə-) n.

the polestar or North Star, a star of the second magnitude situated close to the north pole of the heavens, in the constellation Ursa Minor: the outermost star in the handle of the Little Dipper. [1955–60; short for Medieval Latin stella polāris polar star] Po·lar·is (pə-lăr′ĭs) A bright star at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper and almost at the north celestial pole. Also called North Star. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: Polaris Magnitude: 2.1 The history of the star: Polaris Alpha (α) Ursa Minor , Polaris, is a star in the tip of the tail of the Little Bear. Its name comes to us from Latin Stella Polaris, meaning "Pole Star". Polaris is our Pole star, situated at the north pole it never sets and as Wikipedia explains Polaris stands almost motionless on the sky, and all the stars of the Northern sky appear to rotate around it. Therefore, it makes an excellent fixed point from which to draw measurements for celestial navigation and for astrometry.

Other stars along this circle were the pole star in the past and will be again in the future, including Thuban and Vega. Polaris has been close to the actual position of the north pole for over 1000 years. Polaris has long been an important star to sailors, caravans of old winding their way over the desert by night and others who navigated their way by the stars. Located almost directly overhead as seen from the North Pole, it is situated at the tip of the tail of the Little Bear, Ursa Minor and the brightest star of that constellation. Perhaps more than any star other than the Sun; Polaris has been regarded as the most important star in the heavens. It has been known by many names in the past; "the Pathway" "the Pointer" - indicating the way; "Navel of the World", "Gate of Heaven", "Hub of the Cosmos", "the Highest Peak of the World Mountain", "Lodestar" "the Steering Star" "the Ship Star" and Stella Maris "Star of the Sea". Greek navigators of old called Polaris; Kynosoura, which means "the Dog's Tail".

The name came into our English language as Cynosure, which means "an object that serves as a focal point of attention and admiration" or "Something that serves to guide". The proximity of the stars of the two bears ( Ursa Major and Ursa Minor ) to the North Celestial Pole gave the impression that they were wheeling around this point, pulling perhaps a plough behind them, tilling the heavenly fields and driven on by Bootes the Bear Driver who chases or herds the Bears around Polaris. Another version of this story has it that the oxen were tied to the polar axis and were driven on by Bootes, assisted by his two dogs Canes Venatici , "in order that the rotations of the heavens should never cease." In past ages, whichever star held the position of Pole Star was worshipped as the star of that age and temples were built to them in ancient Egypt. Polaris is now the star of our own age. The planet, Uranus, was discovered one degree longitude away from this star. A good essay on Polaris by Lance Carlyle Carter can be read on this website: from p.453 of Star Names , Richard Hinckley Allen, 1889.

Phoenice was the early Greek name, borrowed from its constellation, for this "lovely northern light" and the "most practically useful star in the heavens"; but for many centuries it has been Stella Polaris, the Pole-star, or simply Polaris,— The Italian astronomer Riccioli's (1598–1671) Pollaris; this position seeming to be first recognized in literature by Dante when he wrote in the Paradiso: The mouth imagine of the horn That in the point beginneth of the axis Round about which the primal wheel revolves.

Euclid (circa 300 B.C.) said in his Phainomena: A star is visible between the Bears ( Ursa Major and Ursa Minor ), not changing its place, but always revolving upon itself; Hipparchos (circa 160-120 B.C.), that the pole was "in a vacant spot forming a quadrangle with three other stars," both of these calling this (Greek) Polos, the (Latin) Polus of Lucan (39-65A.D.), Ovid (43 B.C.-18?A.D.), and other classical Latins; and Euphratean observers had called their pole-star Pul, or Bil.

But, although other astronomical writers used these words for some individual star, there is no certainty as to which was intended, for it should be remembered that during many millenniums the polar point has gradually been approaching our pole-star, which 2000 years ago was far removed from it,— in Hipparchos' (circa 160-120 B.C.) time 12°24' away according to his own statement quoted by Marinus of Tyre and cited by the second-century Greek astronomer Ptolemy. Miss Clerke writes as to this: {p.454} "The entire millennium before the Christian era may count for an interregnum as regards Pole-stars.

Alpha (α) Draco ( Thuban ) had ceased to exercise that office; Alruccabah (Polaris) had not yet assumed it." Kochab (the beta, β, star of Ursa Minor ), and kappa (κ) of Draco , at different times in that epoch, may have been considered as this pole-star, the last a 4th-magnitude about 10° distant from the true pole; although the 5th-magnitude b, 4° away in Alexandrian-Greek astronomer Eratosthenes' (276?-196 B.C.) day, perhaps was intended. And this is not unlikely, as this inconspicuous object, for some reason, was sufficiently noteworthy among the Chinese to bear the title How Kung, the Empress. The (Greek) aei phanes, "ever visible," of the 5th-century Stobaeus may have referred to our Polaris, then about 7° distant from the pole.

The fact that the Polaris of his day did not exactly mark the pole was noted by Pytheas, the Greek astronomer and navigator of Massilia, the modern Marseilles, about 320 B.C.; and till this discovery the belief was prevalent that the heavenly pole was absolutely fixed. In none of the foregoing cases' does a single star seem to be mentioned as a guide in navigation; but as knowledge in this art increased, our alpha (α) took the place of its constellation as Stella Maris, a title that Saint Jerome, in his Onomasticon, applied to the Virgin Mary; there, however, with no marine, or stellar, connection. But a star, being always a symbol of sanctity, was peculiarly so of the holiest of women, so that this title of the chief star of heaven was adopted as one interpretation of her Jewish name Miriam. The 17th century German astronomer Bayer's la Tramontana (a classical name for a northern wind, a cold north wind in Italy, from "trans-montanus, 'of a mountain'".

The English word "tramontane" means "a person who lives beyond the mountains", "a foreigner; a stranger) was well known before his day, for Eden translated from the First Decade, printed in 1511, "cauled by the Italians Tramontana"; and Jehan de Mandeville ("syr Iohn Maundauile") more than a century before the discovery of our continent (America), in his statement of his belief in the sphericity of the earth, wrote of it as "the Sterre Transmontane, that is clept the Sterre of the See, that is unmevable, and that is toward the Northe, that we clepen the Lode Sterre." One derivation of this transmontane is from the fact that the nations along the Mediterranean saw the star beyond their northern mountain boundary; and the word appears in the popular saying, current among the Latin races, of a man's "losing his Tramontane" when one had lost his bearings. Another earlier and much more probable origin, however, is from a title for the constellation already alluded to.

Similarly the Finns know Polaris as Taehti, the Star at the Top of the Heavenly Mountain. Anglo-Saxons of the 10th century said that it was the Scip-steorra, the Ship-star; Eden, "cauled of the Spanyardes Nortes"; the 17th century German astronomer Bayer, Angel Stern, the {p.455} Pivot Star, and the Latin Navigatoria; while it was the Steering Star to early English navigators, who "knew no North, but when the Pole Star shone".

Andrew Marvell, strangely the common friend of John Milton and King Charles II, said: "By night the northern star their way directs;" and Thomas Moore wrote, in his Light of the Haram: "that star, on starry nights The seaman singles from the sky To steer his bark for ever by." Thus, as the leading star, it became the Loadstar, or Lodestar, of early English authors; Spenser saying: "The pilot can no loadstar see," and Shakespeare's Helena, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, tells Hermia "Your eyes are lodestars." Milton's Comus had the much quoted Our Star of Arcady, Or Tyrian Cynosure; and L'Allegro : The Cynosure of neighb'ring eyes,— a designation of Polaris which has everywhere become common; while Cinosura and Cynosura regularly appeared in scientific works of the 17th and 18th centuries; but this was one of the ancients' titles for the whole of Ursa Minor , and never, by them, limited to the lucida (brightest star in a constellation).

The Star of Arcady either referred to Arcadia, the earthly home of Kallisto (identified with Ursa Major ), or to Arcas, her son(identified with Ursa Minor ), transferred to the skies by his father Jove, when ignorantly about to slay his mother after her transformation. The poet, however, followed a common error in locating Arcas here, for he properly was identified with Bootes . The Chinese had several names for it,— Pih Keih; Ta Shin; Tien Hwang Ta Ti, the Great Imperial Ruler of Heaven, the circumpolar stars circling around it in homage, the whole forming the Purple Subtle Enclosure; and Ti or Ti Tso, the Emperor's Seat, this last also being borne by alpha (α) Hercules . And it was Tow Kwei, as with Ursa Major , from its square of stars, beta (β Merak ), gamma (γ Phecda ), zeta (ζ Mizar ), and eta (η Alkaid ). Its first use in navigation is ascribed to their emperor Hong Ti, or Hwang Ti, a grandson of Noah!

However this may be, it seems certain that some polar star, or constellation, has been used in China from remote antiquity. In earliest Northern India the star nearest the pole was known as Grahadhara, the Pivot of the Planets, representing the great god Dhruva, and the Persian astronomer Al Biruni (973-1048 A.D.) said that among the Hindus of his time it was Dhruva himself. It was an object of their worship, as our Polaris is to-day among the Mandaeans along the Tigris and lower Euphrates. The Arabs knew Polaris as Al Kiblah, "because it is the star least distant from the pole," although then 5° away, and helped them, in any strange location distant from an established place of worship, to know the points {p.457} of the compass and thus the direction of Mecca and its Ka'bah ( Kaaba ), towards which every good Muslim must turn his head in prayer.

They also called it Al Jadi, the Young He Goat, which subsequently degenerated to Juddah, as Niebuhr heard it a century ago, and known in Desert story as Giedi, the slayer of the dead man on the Bier of Ursa Major . Wetzstein says that in Damascus it is called Mismar, a Needle or Nail. As marking the north pole it bore the latter's title, Al Kutb al Shamaliyy, the Northern Axle, or Spindle, from Al Kutb, the Pin fixed in the under stone of a mill around which the upper stone turns; and this same thought later appeared in English poetry, as in Marlowe's History of Doctor Faustus, where he says of the stars that All jointly move upon one axletree Whose terminine is term'd the world's wide pole.

The Arabian astronomers knew it as Al Kaukab2 al Shamaliyy, [Allen notes: Kaukab is the same as the Assyrian and Chaldaean word Kakkab, the Hebrew Kohabh; this last also the fighting name of Bar Cochab, the Son of a Star, who was the leader of the second revolt of the Jews in 132-135, during the reign of Hadrian, his shekels bearing a star over a tetrastyle temple. The name was variously written, but correctly as Bar Coziba, from his birthplace.] the Star of the North, an appellation perhaps given by their nomad ancestors to beta (β Kochab ) as nearer the pole in their time. The 13th century Persian astronomical writer Al Kazwini mentioned the belief of the common people that a fixed contemplation of Al Kaukab would cure itching of the eyelids,— ophthalmia, then, as now, being the prevalent disease of the Desert.

The Alfonsine Tables of 1521 have Alrucaba et est Stella polaris sive Polus; and the 17th century German astronomer Bayer, Alruccabah seu Ruccabah Ismaelitis; but this was shared with the next star, as also with the constellation. The Turks know it as Yilduz, the Star par excellence; and have a story that its light was concealed for a time after their capture of Constantinople. Polaris is 1° 14' distant from the exact pole ( Wikipedia says 42′ away as of 2006), which lies on the straight line drawn from Polaris to zeta (ζ) Ursa Major ( Mizar ), and will continue in gradual approach to the pole till about the year 2095, when it will be only 26' 30" {p.458} away.

It will then recede in favor successively of gamma (γ), pi (π), zeta (ζ), nu (ν), and alpha (α) of Cepheus ( Alderamin ), alpha (α) and delta (δ) of the Swan ( Cygnus - Deneb Adige is alpha), and Wega ( Vega ) of the Lyre , when, marked by this last brilliant star, 11,500 years hence the pole will be about 50° distant from its present position and within 5° of Wega ( Vega ), which for 3000 years will serve as the pole-star of the then existing races of mankind.

The polar point will thence circle past iota (ι) and tau (τ) Hercules , theta (θ), iota (ι), and alpha (α) Draco , beta (β) Ursa Minor , and kappa (κ) Draco back to our alpha (α) again; the entire period being from 25,695 to 25,868 years, according to different calculations.1 Shakespeare did not know all this when he wrote in Julius Caesar : "constant as the Northern Star, Of whose true fixed and resting quality There is no fellow in the firmament." [ Star Names , Their Lore and Meaning, Richard Hinckley Allen, 1889]. The astrological influences of the constellation Ursa Minor Legend: According to some accounts this constellation, Ursa Minor , represents Arcas, son of Callisto and Jupiter (see Bootes and Ursa Major ). Other writers state that it is meant to represent Cynosura, one of the Nymphs of Crete who reared the infant Jupiter; the other, Helice, being Ursa Major.

[Robson * , p.65-66.] Influences: According to Ptolemy the bright stars are like Saturn and in some degree like Venus. It is said to give indifference and improvidence of spirit, and to lead to many troubles.

By the Kabalists it is associated with the Hebrew letter Tau and the 21st Tarot Trump "The Universe." [Robson * , p.66.] The astrological influences of the constellation Ursa Minor given by Manilius: "Now where heaven reaches its culmination in the shining Bears ( Ursa Major and Ursa Minor ), which from the summit of the sky look down on all the stars and know no setting and, shifting their opposed stations about the same high point, set sky and stars in rotation, from there an insubstantial axis runs down through the wintry air and controls the universe, keeping it pivoted at opposite poles: it forms the middle about which the starry sphere revolves and wheels its heavenly flight, but is itself without motion and, drawn straight through the empty spaces of the great sky to the two Bears and through the very globe of the Earth, stands fixed, since the entire atmosphere ever revolves in a circle, and every part of the whole rotates to the place from which it once began, that which is in the middle, about which all moves, so insubstantial that it cannot turn round upon itself or even submit to motion or spin in circular fashion, this men have called the axis, since, motionless

 itself, it yet sees everything spinning about it.

"The top of the axis is occupied by constellations well known to hapless mariners, guiding them over the measureless deep in their search for gain. Helice ( Ursa Major ), the greater, describes the greater arc; it is marked by seven stars which vie with each other under its guidance the ships of Greece set sail to cross the seas. "Cynosura ( Ursa Minor ) is small and wheels round in a narrow circle, less in brightness as it is in size, but in the judgment of the Tyrians it excels the larger bear. "Carthaginians count it the surer-guide when at sea they make for unseen shores. They are not set face to face: each with its muzzle points at the other's tail and follows one that follows it. Sprawling between them and embracing each the Dragon ( Draco ) separates and surrounds them with its glowing stars lest they ever meet or leave their stations." [ Astronomica , Manilius, 1st century AD, p.27]. The astrological influences of the star Polaris Of the nature of Saturn and Venus. It causes much sickness, trouble, loss of fortune, disgrace and great affliction, and may give legacies and inheritances attended by much evil.

The Arabs were of the opinion that the contemplation of Polaris cured ophthalmia. [Robson * , p.185.] The pole star, Polaris, is the main star of "the small Bear", situated on the tail, has a Saturn nature, combined with qualities of Sun and Venus. It might seem strange to include this fixed star here, as its latitude is about 60° and therefore placed far outside of the ecliptic in which the planets move. Measured on the ecliptic, it is situated closely conjunct with Alpha Orionis, Betelgeuze , the main star of Orion . The Chinese considered the Pole Star as "the great honorable Lord of the Heavens". Other races too had high admiration for it, and one can draw the conclusion that, in a relevant position in the natal chart, it will give spiritual powers to the bearer, and he will be highly respected. The Pole Star serves as a guide and indicator. If it is conjunct with planets in the angles, the native will have a good sense of discretion and is able to follow "his instinct". He clearly recognizes his aims, and will pursue and achieve them.

[ Fixed Stars and Their Interpretation , Elsbeth Ebertin, 1928, p.35-36.] With Sun: Many troubles and evils. [Robson * , p.185.] With Moon: Hatred of the vulgar, ill-will of women and danger from thieves. [Robson * , p.185.] References: Polaris | Define Polaris at Dictionary.com Polaris [poh-lair-is, -lar-, puh-] /poʊˈlɛər ɪs, -ˈlær-, pə-/ Spell noun 1. Astronomy. the polestar or North Star, a star of the second magnitude situated close to the north pole of the heavens, in the constellation Ursa Minor: the outermost star in the handle of the Little Dipper. 2. a two-stage U.S. ballistic missile, usually fired from a submerged submarine. Origin of Polaris 1955-60; short for Medieval Latin stella polāris polar star Polari [puh-lahr-ee, paw-] /pəˈlɑr i, pɔ-/ Spell noun 1.

a distinctive English argot in use since at least the 18th century among groups of theatrical and circus performers and in certain homosexual communities, derived largely from Italian, directly or through Lingua Franca. Expand ultimately < Italian parlare to speak, talk; see parle Dictionary.com Unabridged Examples from the Web for Polaris Expand Contemporary Examples Larry Kramer is senior adviser at Polaris Venture Partners, a venture-capital firm. When Marriage Is a Crime: A New U.K. Law Could Change Lives Jasvinder Sanghera June 20, 2012 Historical Examples In New York the elevation of Polaris above the horizon is forty degrees, which is the latitude of the city. Lectures in Navigation Ernest Gallaudet Draper If they have any other ships of that size, the Polaris will be able to handle them. British Dictionary definitions for Polaris Expand noun 1. Also called the Pole Star, the North Star. the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor, situated slightly less than 1° from the north celestial pole. It is a Cepheid variable, with a period of four days.

Visual magnitude: 2.08–2.17; spectral type: F8Ib 2. a type of US two-stage intermediate-range ballistic missile, usually fired by a submerged submarine (as modifier): a Polaris submarine Word Origin shortened from Medieval Latin stella polāris polar star Polari noun 1. an English slang that is derived from the Lingua Franca of Mediterranean ports; brought to England by sailors from the 16th century onwards. A few words survive, esp in male homosexual slang Word Origin C19: from Italian parlare to speak Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for Polaris Expand n. 1769, short for stella polaris, Modern Latin, literally "the pole star" (see polar ).

The ancient Greeks called it Phoenice, "the Phoenician (star)," because the Phoenicians used it for navigation, though due to precession of the equinoxes it was not then the pole star. Also see pole (n.2). The Old English word for it was Scip-steorra "ship-star," reflecting its importance in navigation. As the name of a U.S. Navy long-range submarine-launched guided nuclear missile, it dates from 1957. Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Question: What is the Latin name for the North Star?
Answer: Polaris