The North Star, Why does it NOT move??

Ok im sorry to seeming a little thick here but i have asked a lot of my friends this question , but , i cannot get any answer , so i have decided knowing full well , THAT , im going to be thrown to the wolves for this but:-

Why does everything else move in the night sky apart from the North Star?
Earth so far as i know is supposed to wobble 11 ' on its axis , so surely the Star should move!!

Really looking forward to being thrown to them lil doogies ..

Regards

Git

reply to post by completenuttergit


It actually DOES move, just not nearly as much. After a really long time, we will not have a North Star, and later it will be a different star.

reply to post by completenuttergit



Yes, the earth has a wabble, but it takes approximately 12,500 years (or 26,000 years...i don't remember which) to make 1 complete "wabble". So yeah, the north star isn't really going to move at all in our miniscule life times.

Hi, the north star is also a double sun also it has a small star next to it also. This knowlege I have not used in over 15 or more years but who knows may come in handy. Basically the northstar is on an axis of the earths spin, there is nothing north about it its just in the centre of earth's spin as it turns. Take for example a record player the hole in the middle looks like its still when it moves.

reply to post by bigbert81


A different star as in a near by star ?

I have watched that thing for hours and i just doesnt seem like it moves , So it has got something to do with its position as why it seems like it doesnt move?? Im sorry i just have to get this straight as i have a few friends wanting to know too lol


Kind regards

Git

It Does move, making a circle; only it's small enough circle that you don't notice it without a time lapse camera. Polaris is "not quite" true north, the celestial north pole.

Over time, and I mean centuries, the celestial north pole has shifted. The 23 degree difference between the earth's equator and the earth's plane of orbit around the sun causes a wobble, like a top that is slowing down. So, over thousands of years, the point in the sky the north pole points toward has changed.

Several thousand years ago, the "pole star" was alpha draconis, the head of the dragon.

Perhaps this is enshrined in the myth of King Arthur (arctus - the bear) who was preceded as king by Uther Pendragon (head of the dragon)

.

Originally posted by The time lord
Hi, the north star is also a double sun also it has a small star next to it also. This knowlege I have not used in over 15 or more years but who knows may come in handy. Basically the northstar is on an axis of the earths spin, there is nothing north about it its just in the centre of earth's spin as it turns. Take for example a record player the hole in the middle looks like its still when it moves.

Er wow what are the chances of that happening to other planets then ?

or would this be the norm ??

rgds
Git

chances are pretty high i'ld say, if you take into account the volume of stars in the sky, chances are on of them is bound to be in a good position no matter what way the planet points.

Thanks you guys , i knew u would come up with a good answer for me..

why could i not find the answer in text books i dont know ..

I am sorry if this annoys some but i wanted to know and could think of no better place to go...

Good old ATS'ers

[edit on 28-8-2007 by completenuttergit]

^
^^
Get directly beneath a light fixture (or something) in a room. Look up at the fixture and start spinning around. The light fixture will look as if it is not moving, while the rest of the ceiling will look as if it is spinning around your head.

The North Star (Polaris) is almost directly above the Earth's North Pole, which is one end of the axis aroud which the Earth spins. That's why the North Star does not appear to move as much as the other stars during the night. It will never set nor rise like the other stars do during the night.

EDIT to add: ...and don't let the Earth precession, or wobble, confuse the matter. Sure -- the Earth's wobble is going to cause Polaris (the North Star) to apparently move away from its present position in our northern sky, but this will take a few thousand years. It has little relevance to your original question.

[edit on 8/28/2007 by Soylent Green Is People]

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People


The North Star is almost directly above the Earth's North Pole, which is one end of the axis aroud which the Earth spins. That's why the North Star does not appear to move as much as the other stars during the night. It will never set nor rise like the other stars do during the night.

Thanx for you reply Soylent

I must admitt i thought that but the thing that bugs me is , We revolve round he sun , does that mean that the rest of the universe is revolving at the same speed?? i cant see that somehow , i know im being thick here and im not the sharpest knife in the drawer , but i just cant get the grasp of just one star in the billions out there not moving..or just a bit , and revolving nearly at the same speed as it would seem ...

Thanks for your patients

Kind regards
Git

^
^^I'm sure there is a slight difference in the location of the North Star depending on our location around the Sun, but it isn't noticeable (although I'm sure it is measurable using modern scientific equipment). The same goes for the fact that all stars, even our Sun, is moving through the galaxy at different speeds and directions. Those differences would take a long time to notice.

On a really sad note (that proves I have gone a bit too long without a girlfriend! )

If Polaris blinked out right now - so 02:00 UK (BST) we would not know any thing about it for;
120,083,057.4 seconds
or 2,001,384.29 mins
or 33,356.40483 hours
or 1,389.850201 days (24 hr)
or 198.5500288 weeks
or 3.82 years

So (taking account of 2008 being a leap year!) that date would be 18th June 2011 at 10:24 pm (BST)

But now I've finished typing that its now 02:05 so that would make it 18/06/11 22:29 (BST)

And now I've finished typing that ..... Give up give up give up give up!!!!


Edit: suggestion - ATS should run a dating service

[edit on 28/8/2007 by Now_Then]

It sounds like you understand now, but I thought I would help. A picture says a thousand words. The star in the middle of these images is the North Star.





If you look real close you will see that it does move a little. As someone already said it is the star that just happens to be inline with the rotational axis of Earth so all the other stars seem to rotate in the sky, but in fact we are the ones that are rotating. The stars don't move at all.

The North Star has been used for centuries to help navigate ships on the ocean. Even today the Navy still teaches sailors how to navigate by the stars. I guess in case their GPS locater goes on the fritz.

These images are found on the following page that has other good info.

The Reasons for the Seasons

This is a really cool picture, just makes me dizzy. Saved it, just got to find a use for it

Originally posted by Hal9000
The stars don't move at all.

Yes, they do. Just not in a relative sense. All stars rotate around their galactic center, and all galaxies are moving further apart from eachother.

Originally posted by pjslug
All stars rotate around their galactic center

And even that isn't entirely true. There's such things as "runaway stars" that are not following the crowd but is actually being ejected out of the galaxy.

Here's another link that explains more about these fascinating objects:

www.abc.net.au...

And here's an APOD picture of one with a bow shock preceding it:


APOD: December 3, 1997



Beautiful, isn't she?

Actually, Polaris is a triple star system - Hubble :




“The close companion, Polaris Ab was known to exist from its gravitational tug on the main star, Polaris A, but has only been seen directly now using Hubble. The other companion, Polaris B, is much farther away and has been photographed before.“

source


And, as members pointed out, during past 5000 years it was Alpha Draconis (Thuban) in constellation Draco. In the year 7500 the direction of the North pole will move to Alpha Cephei in constellation Chepeus, in year 15 000 it will be the star Vega in constellation Lyra and in year 24 000 - Polaris again.

[edit on 29-8-2007 by blue bird]

reply to post by Hal9000


Thanx Hal ,

They are some real spectacular photo's , i tried that once but my camera ran out of power!!

So what i can tell is that .. No matter where Earth is around the sun , our north pole points almost directly to the North star(polaris) be we in Spring Autumn or whatever! aint that weird .

God i love sience and space and chocolate n girls , Good i dea about the Date Site, now_then lol ..

Good stuff coming in here thanks

kind regards
Git

reply to post by Beachcoma


Hi Beachcoma , that really is a beauty of a picture thankyou for the info too lol im getting a bit burned out here lol...

Hi blue bird , Now there are three stars oh my god, i have been using the pointer stars in Ursa Major (saucepan with the bent handle ) for years to find "Polaris" but i never realised i was looking at 2 let alone three stars. This is Really good stuff , much more than i expected , much much more!

Thanks to all of you again

Regards

Git..

oops a double post ... i am sorry !

[edit on 29-8-2007 by completenuttergit]