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Many recent papers calculate the distance to Polaris at about 433 light-years (133 parsecs), [20] based on parallax measurements from the Hipparcos astrometry satellite. Older distance estimates were often slightly less, and research based on high resolution spectral analysis suggests it may be up to 110 light years closer (323 ly/99 pc). [56]
A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr [3]), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equal to exactly 9 460 730 472 580.8 km, which is approximately 5.88 trillion mi.
In standard cosmology, comoving distance and proper distance (or physical distance) are two closely related distance measures used by cosmologists to define distances between objects. Comoving distance factors out the expansion of the universe , giving a distance that does not change in time except due to local factors, such as the motion of a ...
[14] [15] It is a yellow giant 294 light years from Earth. Its angular separation from the pole is about 1° (as of 2000). The Southern Cross constellation functions as an approximate southern pole constellation, by pointing to where a southern pole star would be. At the equator, it is possible to see both Polaris and the Southern Cross.
A proper motion of 1 arcsec per year 1 light-year away corresponds to a relative transverse speed of 1.45 km/s. Barnard's Star's transverse speed is 90 km/s and its radial velocity is 111 km/s (perpendicular (at a right, 90° angle), which gives a true or "space" motion of 142 km/s.
Absolute magnitude is defined as the apparent magnitude that a star or object would have if it were observed from a distance of 10 parsecs (33 light-years; 3.1 × 10 14 kilometres; 1.9 × 10 14 miles).
This number is likely much higher, due to the sheer number of stars needed to be surveyed; a star approaching the Solar System 10 million years ago, moving at a typical Sun-relative 20–200 kilometers per second, would be 600–6,000 light-years from the Sun at present day, with millions of stars closer to the Sun.
The amount of shift is quite small, even for the nearest stars, measuring 1 arcsecond for an object at 1 parsec's distance (3.26 light-years), and thereafter decreasing in angular amount as the distance increases. Astronomers usually express distances in units of parsecs (parallax arcseconds); light-years are used in popular media.