Explanation:
At 2nd magnitude,
Polaris is far from the brightest star in the night sky.
But it is the brightest star at the left of
this well-composed, starry mosaic
spanning about 23 degrees across the
northern sky asterism
dubbed the Little Dipper.
Polaris is famous as the North Pole Star, a friend to
navigators and
astrophotographers alike,
but it's not located exactly at the
North Celestial Pole (NCP) either.
It's
presently
offset from the NCP by 0.7 degrees.
Sliding your cursor over the picture will locate Polaris and
the NCP as well as other stars of the Little Dipper.
The stars are shown with their proper names preceded by their
greek alphabet designations within the ancient
constellation Ursa
Minor, the Little Bear.
Dust clouds
suspended above the plane of our
Milky Way Galaxy are also faintly visible throughout the
wide field of view.
