Comments on: How many stars are brighter than the north star?

By: tham153

tham153 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:10:59 +0000

There are 49 stars which appear brighter than Polaris, from Sirius and Canopus on down. When Thuban was the pole star about 4200 years ago, there were even more stars brighter than the pole star. But when Vega becomes the pole star in 10,000 years or so, it will at least be one of the ten brightest.
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By: peppermint.plant

peppermint.plant — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:58:59 +0000

Are you asking in terms of apparent or absolute magnitude? Since you are giving Polaris' apparent magnitude, then I am assuming you want the brightness of stars using their apparent magnitude, and in that case Polaris isn't the brightest star in the sky, but rather Sol (the Sun) is.
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By: Al

Al — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:39:59 +0000

Betelgeuse is not the brightest star in the sky. Apart from the sun, Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris) is the brightest.

According to the list at the link below, there are 47 stars that are brighter than Polaris.

UPDATE: If Tham get’s a chance, I’d be interested in knowing what the other two stars are. The list I linked showed 47 versus 49…
References :
http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/stars.html

By: Christian A

Christian A — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:05:59 +0000

There are a bunch that are brighter than Polaris, the exact amount, I'm not sure. Beatulgeuse, I believe, is the brightest in the sky, which is a super-giant.
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