Back Poolster Afrikaans نجم قطبي Arabic Estrella Polar AST Полярна звезда (астрономия) Bulgarian ध्रुव तारा Bihari ধ্রুবতারা Bengali/Bangla Estel polar Catalan ᏧᏴᏢ ᏗᎧᎸ ᏃᏈᏏ CHR Estrella polar Spanish ستاره قطبی Persian
A pole star is a visible star that is approximately aligned with the axis of rotation of an astronomical body; that is, a star whose apparent position is close to one of the celestial poles. On Earth, a pole star would lie directly overhead when viewed from the North or the South Pole.
Currently, Earth's pole stars are Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris), a bright magnitude 2 star aligned approximately with its northern axis that serves as a pre-eminent star in celestial navigation, and a much dimmer magnitude 5.5 star on its southern axis, Polaris Australis (Sigma Octantis).
From around 1700 BC until just after 300 AD, Kochab (Beta Ursae Minoris) and Pherkad (Gamma Ursae Minoris) were twin northern pole stars, though neither was as close to the pole as Polaris is now.