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star · the North Star

Polaris compared to the Sun

Yellow-white supergiant sitting near Earth’s north celestial pole; also a Cepheid variable.

How big is Polaris compared to the Sun?

Polaris is roughly 46 times as wide as the Sun.

How much mass does Polaris have compared to the Sun?

Polaris has roughly five times the mass of the Sun.

How hot is Polaris compared to the Sun?

Polaris’s surface is 5,744 °C. The Sun’s surface is 5,499 °C.

Worth knowing about Polaris

You see Polaris as it was about 450 years ago.

Why it stands out
The nearest Cepheid to us. Cepheids are cosmic yardsticks: the longer the pulse cycle, the more luminous the star, which lets astronomers measure distances even to other galaxies.
How much light it gives off
About 1,300 solar luminosities.
What it is
A yellow-white supergiant, also a Cepheid variable — a star that pulses in size and brightness on a precise schedule.
How far away it is
Its distance is less certain than for most bright stars: good measurements disagree by as much as a fifth.
How we know: Distance found by parallax, cross-checked against the pulsation-brightness relationship used for far more distant Cepheids. Rung 5 of the cosmic ladder — the distance to nearby stars
Polaris — A model, seen from the Earth, with north up.
The numbers
Across64.38 million km
Distance from usabout 450 light-years
Surface temperature5,744 °C
Light given off1,260 × the Sun

We use about 450 light-years, from Gaia’s parallax of its companion Polaris B (Torres 2023). Hipparcos gave 433 and a Hubble measurement 521 (Bond et al. 2018).

How anyone knows this

Things like it

The SunstarNaked eyeProxima Centauristar150 mm telescopeSiriusstarNaked eyeVegastarNaked eyeArcturusstarNaked eyeTRAPPIST-1starBeyond a 150 mm telescope

Games it appears in

Show Polaris in the model🧭 Where is Polaris?🕒 When can I see Polaris?📖 How the Milky Way fits together🌙 Plan an evening outside