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Title: The North star? Post by: rivers.butterfly on Mar 18, 2013 why dosen't the North star move?
Title: The North star? Post by: sml0920 on Mar 18, 2013 It does move, but not much. That's because it's almost directly above the Earth's north pole, so that as the Earth rotates, the North Star stays almost stationary.
Title: The North star? Post by: jules_1978 on Mar 18, 2013 The truth is, it does move! Objects is space are constantly moving. In several thousand years, the North Star will no longer be the North Star and we will have a new one.
Title: The North star? Post by: michaelW on Mar 18, 2013 Hi. Polaris actually moves in a circle each day with a diameter about twice the size of the Moon or so. This is from our perspective of course. It actually moves very little year to year. (It is also a double star and a Cepheid variable!)
Title: The North star? Post by: Julep1 on Mar 18, 2013 From our perspective, the North Star is in line with the Earth's northa axial pole. The Earth is spinning on its axis, and that axis is pointed in one direction in the sky - Polaris happens to be near that point in the sky.
But Polaris hasn't always been the North Star and won't always be the North Star, due to the precession of the equinoxes. Over tens of thousands of years, the wobble in the Earth's axis of rotation cause the axis to point to other regions of the sky. Other stars that have been (and will be) the North Star include Thuban and Vega. Polaris has been close to the actual position of the north pole for over 1000 years and during the 21st century it will continue to approach the exact theoretical position, reaching its closest approach in 2100 (at just .45 degrees away from the north axial pole). Title: The North star? Post by: smkt025 on Mar 18, 2013 Imagine a very long pole running through Earth from the South Pole to the North Pole. That pole is like an axle on a car around which the Earth rotates. The North End of the pole (..axle..) points almost directly at the North Star, therefore as Earth rotates the North Star moves very little.
Title: The North star? Post by: fireman on Mar 18, 2013 the north star does move.
it is almost directly above the nothern pole and when the earth rotates it does not move that much because the northern pole doesn't move every day when the earth rotates. it moves so little that people just say it doesn't move. (this is best answer worthey) |