Star of the North: An explosive thriller set in North Korea

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The Hipparcos spacecraft used stellar parallax to take measurements from 1989 and 1993 with the accuracy of 0.97 milliarcseconds (970 microarcseconds), and it obtained accurate measurements for stellar distances up to 1,000pc away. [58] The Hipparcos data was examined again with more advanced error correction and statistical techniques. [2] Despite the advantages of Hipparcos astrometry, the uncertainty in its Polaris data has been pointed out and some researchers have questioned the accuracy of Hipparcos when measuring binary Cepheids like Polaris. [9] The Hipparcos reduction specifically for Polaris has been re-examined and reaffirmed but there is still not widespread agreement about the distance. [59]

As the closest Cepheid variable its distance is used as part of the cosmic distance ladder. The revised Hipparcos stellar parallax gives a distance to Polaris of about 433 light-years (133 parsecs), while the successor mission Gaia gives a distance of about 448 light-years (137 parsecs). Calculations by other methods vary widely.

How Far Away is Polaris?

a b Neilson, H. R.; Engle, S. G.; Guinan, E.; Langer, N.; Wasatonic, R. P.; Williams, D. B. (2012). "The Period Change of the Cepheid Polaris Suggests Enhanced Mass Loss". The Astrophysical Journal. 745 (2): L32. arXiv: 1201.0761. Bibcode: 2012ApJ...745L..32N. doi: 10.1088/2041-8205/745/2/L32. S2CID 118625176. Evans, Nancy Remage; Guinan, Edward; Engle, Scott; Wolk, Scott J.; Schlegel, Eric; Mason, Brian D.; Karovska, Margarita; Spitzbart, Bradley (2010). "Chandra Observation of Polaris: Census of Low-mass Companions". The Astronomical Journal. 139 (5): 1968. Bibcode: 2010AJ....139.1968E. doi: 10.1088/0004-6256/139/5/1968. Meanwhile, there is no visible star marking the celestial pole in the Southern Hemisphere. What’s more, the Southern Hemisphere won’t see a pole star appreciably close to the south celestial pole for another 2,000 years. Trusting Polaris with their lives Star of The North reads like a cross between Child-44 and I am Pilgrim and is every bit as good as both of them. Read this book and you will not only feel that you've been to North Korea you will also never, ever want to go there. Brutally realistic, fascinatingly detailed, it's a fantastic thriller whose fantasy is all the more powerful for being based on truth.” - Simon Toyne, bestselling author of the Sanctus trilogy Because Polaris lies nearly in a direct line with the Earth's rotational axis "above" the North Pole—the north celestial pole—Polaris stands almost motionless in the sky, and all the stars of the northern sky appear to rotate around it. Therefore, it makes an excellent fixed point from which to draw measurements for celestial navigation and for astrometry. The elevation of the star above the horizon gives the approximate latitude of the observer. [16]

As part of her doctoral thesis, in 1955 E. Roemer used radial velocity data to derive an orbital period of 30.46y for the Polaris A system, with an eccentricity of 0.64. [24] K. W. Kamper in 1996 produced refined elements with a period of 29.59 ±0.02years and an eccentricity of 0.608 ±0.005. [25] In 2019, a study by R. I. Anderson gave a period of 29.32 ±0.11years with an eccentricity of 0.620 ±0.008. [11] Bowditch, Nathaniel; National Imagery and Mapping Agency (2002). "15". The American practical navigator: an epitome of navigation. Paradise Cay Publications. p.248. ISBN 978-0-939837-54-0. In the Old English rune poem, the T-rune is apparently associated with "a circumpolar constellation", or the planet Mars. [43] Lastly, there is Cho who is a North Korean high ranking official. There is some question about his family history which is not only concerning to him but to the North Korean government as well. He is a little stiff, cold and aloof in the beginning of the book. He has a job which he takes seriously and he seems to really believe in what he does for a living until..... Tap on the blue target button in the lower right corner of the screen. The app will show you the location of Polaris on the sky map.

As you travel northward, Polaris climbs higher in the sky. If you go as far north as the North Pole, you’ll see Polaris directly overhead. Martín-Fleitas, J.; Sahlmann, J.; Mora, A.; Kohley, R.; Massart, B.; l'Hermitte, J.; Le Roy, M.; Paulet, P. (2014). Oschmann, Jacobus M; Clampin, Mark; Fazio, Giovanni G; MacEwen, Howard A (eds.). "Enabling Gaia observations of naked-eye stars". Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Optical. Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave. 9143: 91430Y. arXiv: 1408.3039. Bibcode: 2014SPIE.9143E..0YM. doi: 10.1117/12.2056325. S2CID 119112009. You can find the North Star at any time of the year, and at any hour of the night in the northern hemisphere. If you were to stand at the North Pole, you would see Polaris directly overhead. However, it drops below the horizon once you travel south of the equator. Why Does the North Star Always Point North? In traditional Lakota star knowledge, Polaris is named "Wičháȟpi owáŋžila". This translates to "The Star that Sits Still". This name comes from a Lakota story in which he married Tapun San Win "Red Cheeked Woman". However she fell from the heavens, and in his grief he stared down from "waŋkátu" (the above land) forever. [52] The ancient Egyptians depended upon the stars to guide them, so it’s not surprising that they also built their temples and pyramids based on astronomical positions. They even gave pyramids star-themed names like the gleaming, or pyramid that is a star. With the belief that their pharaohs became stars in the northern sky after they died, aligning the pyramids would help these rulers join the stars.

People have watched the North Star for centuries and even depended on it to guide them. Since it’s the perfect combination of magical and mysterious, it soon gained various interpretations and meanings. Here are some of them: 1. Guidance and Direction Bond, Howard E; Nelan, Edmund P; Remage Evans, Nancy; Schaefer, Gail H; Harmer, Dianne (2018). "Hubble Space Telescope Trigonometric Parallax of Polaris B, Companion of the Nearest Cepheid". The Astrophysical Journal. 853 (1): 55. arXiv: 1712.08139. Bibcode: 2018ApJ...853...55B. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aaa3f9. S2CID 118875464.These two companion stars are the same temperature as Polaris A, however, they are actually dwarf stars. Why Polaris is so Fascinating Argyle, Bob; etal. (August 29, 2019). An Anthology of Visual Double Stars. Cambridge University Press. p.265. ISBN 9781108601702. Did you know that our planet is like a spinning top or coin that moves along large circles in the sky over a period of 26,000 years? In astronomy, the celestial phenomenon is called axial precession. The Earth rotates on its axis, but the axis itself is also slowly moving in its own circle due to the gravitational influence of the Sun, Moon and planets.

Cayrel de Strobel, G.; Soubiran, C.; Ralite, N. (2001). "Catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations for FGK stars: 2001 edition". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 373: 159–163. arXiv: astro-ph/0106438. Bibcode: 2001A&A...373..159C. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361:20010525. S2CID 17519049. Polaris Aa, the supergiant primary component, is a low-amplitude Population I classical Cepheid variable, although it was once thought to be a type II Cepheid due to its high galactic latitude. Cepheids constitute an important standard candle for determining distance, so Polaris, as the closest such star, [11] is heavily studied. The variability of Polaris had been suspected since 1852; this variation was confirmed by Ejnar Hertzsprung in 1911. [28] a b c d Vallenari, A.; etal. (Gaia collaboration) (2023). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 674: A1. arXiv: 2208.00211. Bibcode: 2023A&A...674A...1G. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202243940. S2CID 244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.

The North Star: Polaris

The variable radial velocity of Polaris A was reported by W. W. Campbell in 1899, which suggested this star is a binary system. [21] Since Polaris A is a known cepheid variable, J. H. Moore in 1927 demonstrated that the changes in velocity along the line of sight were due to a combination of the four-day pulsation period combined with a much longer orbital period and a large eccentricity of around 0.6. [22] Moore published preliminary orbital elements of the system in 1929, giving an orbital period of about 29.7 years with an eccentricity of 0.63. This period was confirmed by proper motion studies performed by B. P. Gerasimovič in 1939. [23] Polaris, or commonly known as The North Star, is located almost directly above the North Celestial Pole marking the way due north. MAST: Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes". Space Telescope Science Institute . Retrieved 8 December 2021. The North Star or Pole Star – aka Polaris – is famous for holding nearly still in our sky while the entire northern sky moves around it. That’s because it’s located very close to the north celestial pole, the point around which the entire northern sky turns. Although it’s a common belief, Polaris is not the brightest star in the nighttime sky. In fact, it’s only the 48th brightest star. But you can find it easily, and, once you do, you’ll see it shining in the northern sky every night from Northern Hemisphere locations. a b c Neilson, H. R.; Blinn, H. (2021). The Curious Case of the North Star: The Continuing Tension Between Evolution Models and Measurements of Polaris. RR Lyrae/Cepheid 2019: Frontiers of Classical Pulsators. Vol.529. p.72. arXiv: 2003.02326. Bibcode: 2021ASPC..529...72N.