Arabic star names / Polaris
Polaris
الجدي
Polaris comes from the Arabic الجدي (al-Jady), which means “the young goat”. It is the 47th-brightest star in the sky, in Ursa Minor.
- Brightness
- 1.97
- Colour
- yellow
- Constellation
- Ursa Minor
- Best seen
- December evenings
- Right ascension
- 2h 32m
- Declination
- +89° 16′
The name
The Pole Star, fixed above the north. Arab navigators and desert travellers steered by al-Jady. Its height above the horizon equals your latitude.
Where you can see it
It rises everywhere north of 1°S. From Riyadh it climbs to 25° above the horizon. From London it climbs to 52° above the horizon. Never rises over Sydney.
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