Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains The North Star

Is the north star the brightest in the night sky? On this explainer, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice explain everything you wish to know about the North Star. Do all your dreams really come true?
What is the North Star? Where is it in the night sky? Are stars in Hollywood burning thermonuclear fuel in their core? We discuss how culturally entrenched wishing on a star is, why the North Star- Polaris- has significance, and why so many people can’t seem to spot it. We break down long exposure photos of the night sky and the constellations in the southern hemisphere. Is there a “south star”? Plus, hear Chuck’s impersonation of Venus getting mistaken for Polaris and more!
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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!
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[@nobodyknows3180]

I had a girlfriend in college that I referred to as "My Little Neutron Star" One day she asked me about it, "Is it because I'm so incredibly bright?" "No honey," I answered, "it's because you're so incredibly dense." The supernova occurred right after that.

[@JohnDoe-jh5yr]

And that, kids, is how a relationship collapses into a black hole.

[@nobodyknows3180]

@@JohnDoe-jh5yr yup.

[@mohammedhasnain2398]

Legend!!!

[@davidharvey3743]

The brightest star is the Sun!

[@asherikamichaela8425]

@@davidharvey3743 In relation to us, yeah, simply because it's closest.

[@IonutStefanescuSturz]

also, a good argument against flat-earthers: if Earth was flat, you could see Polaris from everywhere on the planet. It's the curvature that blocks the view for southern hemisphere.

[@coyoteboy5601]

Well, sure...if you're gonna resort to reason and logic!

[@Iamrightyouarewrong]

FAKE NEWS!

[@darkydoom]

Yeah I didn't think we could see "The Northern Star" from Australia. I think I can actually use the Southern Cross as a compass

[@whatabouttheearth]

The entire thing makes flat earthers look like fools, even tropical astrology Alpha Draconis, aka Thubin used to be the north star before Polaris but due to precessional slippage it shifted to Polaris. Precessional slippage can be tracked by the north star, due to the "wobble", or the shift of the constellations, hence why Aries is behind the sun during the tropical astrological period of Taurus, because Taurus was behind the sun at that time of year when the Babylonians created the Mul Apin, the Babylonian star charts, in the BC time period. Ptolemy reset the zodiac to 10° Aries and froze it around 100ad which is why tropical astrology does not account for precessional slippage.

[@rogerwilco1777]

Two pole-stars and the counter-clockwise rotation in the north, clockwise rotation in the south is the checkmate of any flat earther.. ..Couldnt happen on flat earth, space would have to have an equator, with each half of the universe rotating opposite around Polaris and Sigma Octantis every day!

[@josepht5331]

Just saw chucks new tide commercial on tv the other day. Congrats on the recent success chuck. Super happy for u and your family. Keep it going. 💪🏾

[@NewMadrid01]

He’s so underrated!!

[@endgamer322]

Chuck been doing Tide commercials for at least a year now, been seeing them for a while.

[@Synthwave89]

Chuck is the best!

[@madeonearth6506]

Go Chuck!!

[@NGC-7635]

Polaris right now: “Shut up! I’m the North Star! I may not be super bright but I’m still special! 😭”

[@pedroakjr2371]

Right? She's doing her best. People are so demanding...

[@user-ep3hd3jc3h]

How strange is it that science so easily makes me forget about my depression? Thank you for doing what you do.

[@davidmccoy3174]

Happy Birthday to my Personal Astrophysicist, Neil. Enjoy Sir and thank you for sharing the knowledge.

[@d00ks]

How is he your personal astrophysicist? Can you call him at will?

[@d00ks]

@@aman-qj5sx well damn I never saw it that way. You’re right! Lol

[@dilonpolaris]

@@d00ks just listen to his intros on Star Talk.

[@Alex-dk1um]

Neil laughing at his own jokes is my favorite 😂

[@rushabhsheth2850]

Another fantastic episode of Star Talk. Just one feedback: please explore the use of animations or still images to explain some of the more technical topics.

[@spsheridan]

Good video Neil and Chuck. You started talking about people’s misconception that the North Star is the brightest (in the Northern Hemisphere) but I didn’t hear you say which one is. You danced around it a bit with Chuck citing Sirius, but he did so in connection with the North Star (for which he was corrected by Neil) not the brightest. For viewers who may be interested, Sirius is indeed the brightest star as viewed from Earth.

[@linyenchin6773]

You dream of controlling the direction of content that is formulated by others!! ... mess.

[@spsheridan]

@@linyenchin6773 Not really, just completing the thought that Neil started at 3:08 when he said, “we’ll get to the brightest star in a minute" but never did.

[@Redoer]

needs to be pinned

[@MrT------5743]

No where in your OP you said night sky for asking about the brightest star. So in your OP question about the brightest star, the answer is of course the Sun. And yes, I am fun at parties. HAHA

[@spsheridan]

@@MrT------5743 You make a good point.

[@willie417]

I see Neil deGrasse Tyson is still destroying things that people believe for years, with actual facts 😀😁😂

[@JohnFleshman]

I wouldnt want it any other way.

[@asherikamichaela8425]

Yup!

[@GrumpyLilGeck]

“If it can be destroyed by the truth, it deserves to be destroyed by the truth.” - Carl Sagan

[@F_L_U_X]

AKA: Educating people.

[@cubertmiso4140]

Did they explain why north star become mistakenly the brightest star in human lore?

[@Dippyification]

From Nigeria I am wishing Neil Degraas Tyson a Happy Birthday. I am your good fan

[@AnishAbraham]

You missed the fact that Polaris is a temporary North Star! Please do a talk on axial precession too! Love the show!

[@Hajiou]

Yes please not saying earth is flat but north and south hemisphere has the same views like and constellation meaning south see the same constellation as the north

[@prostobardak]

Man.. I don’t wanna see another episode without Chuck.. What a legend 😂

[@RadioactiveLobster]

Was Siriusly waiting for you to let Chuck know that he did at least know the brightest star in the sky but it never came.

[@ashwhikidd]

Damn, I'm halfway through the video and was hoping they would circle back to that

[@whatabouttheearth]

I see what you did there

[@whatabouttheearth]

The early name was Osir and related to the name Osiris, this is all supposedly related to the early root of the word sir.

[@taliachetty5417]

🤣 🤣 Love what u did

[@taliachetty5417]

🤣 🤣 Love what u did

[@Baggytrousers27]

For the Southern hemisphere we've got the Southern Cross (Crux) and the Two Pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri) which, used together help you find south (Or at least point you close enough to find that Sigma Octantis). Still love the analogue watch trick for finding North/South.

[@skinwalker3953]

Chuck doing directions is *literally* how we give directions because direction is hard -- Also, weirdly elated to have guessed Venus as the first "star" we see as we circle Sol, and guessing Polaris correctly.. :I Not sure we, in our thirties, should feel this excitement, but here we are.

[@Czechbound]

The great thing about mixing facts and fun is that I am 1000% more likely to remember these facts than I would if I read them on a page in a book

[@Anonymous-md2qp]

I can’t see Polaris from my country because the spherical Earth is in the way.

[@carlchristianlindalen9311]

Love the low key jab at flat earthers. 👍

[@I_Sogeking_I]

When did you fall over the edge?

[@DJ-ys9pv]

Nah bro you’re just on the underside. Wait 6 months for the Earth to pancake flip over and you’ll be good

[@graceonearth]

Happy birthday! Really love your programs from Masterclass to Startalk. :)

[@carolperazoli]

Chuck Nice and Neil deGrasse Tyson are the perfect combination of knowledge and humor. I could listen to their talks for hours! in fact i did just did that!

[@jamesgurney6576]

I really like this episode. I am a retired mariner , have used Polaris to get the ships latitude. Can you talk about longitude by using the time / chronometer ?

[@wesleyverity7310]

You constantly answer questions from my childhood that I either couldn’t get a straight answer for or that I never thought to ask. I appreciate you so much!

[@amytaylor3000]

there👋👋,how are you doing today?❤️❤️

[@benjip1229]

Star Talk should go on the road. That would be so amazing to see live. 😂 You two are hilarious.

[@DylRicho]

Answering your questions before you tell us the answers; - The brightest star is Sirius, a binary star system. Sirius A is a main sequence star and Sirius B is a white dwarf. - The north star is Polaris at the moment, but it will become Vega in the future.

[@jeffreychang6165]

Would love to hear Neil's thoughts on the "Star Bridge" space elevator depicted in the Foundation TV series.

[@rjvalle8094]

Happy birthday! Keep looking up!

[@AZChrisK]

Chuck is brilliant! A great intellect that happens to be screamingly funny!

[@quasar4601]

Chuck is a clean and Spontaneous funny

[@therealq6629]

I watch this for the Chuck, not the knowledge. The knowledge is easily found!

[@skeller61]

I was a navigator in the Air Force (C-130) and used a sextant (GPS was coming in as I was getting out in the early '90s). To get celestial fixes, we used 3 stars about 120 degrees from each other. We used books that said how high in the sky (by degrees) a star should be based on location and time. In the same way Neil described the 90 degree point at the North Pole for the North Star, if the star you measure is higher in the sky, you are closer to it by one nautical mile per minute of declination it is higher. Do that three times and you get a small triangle (a point if you measure everything perfectly, of three intersecting arcs). The arcs we drew were just a small part of the circle that would be drawn through every spot in which the star would be at the same height. Because all this took time, and we flew on the same heading as we did all the calculations, they allowed us 24 NM on each side of our flight plan! Now we get mad if we're 30 feet off. Navigation has definitely been revolutionized. Thanks for your discussion!

[@tomc4132]

Thank you for that info, very interesting 👍 😊

[@robertcampomizzi7988]

The little dude with the flag on Chuck's shirt would have made a decent visual aid. Missed opportunity I guess, but awesome video!(I didn't notice till 15/16 of the way thru). I had heard Architect's Table before and thought at the time that it was strikingly different but never made that connection about the nomenclature of the southern constellations. Thanks for learning me something! And Happy Birthday!

[@oaguilera81]

Great chemistry on this episode! A lot of laughs! 😂 Love it

[@stephenherring9771]

Thanx for your time.Love you man

[@DoFoT9]

Very informative as always. If I can add my own 2cents here (as a person from the Southern Hemisphere) I love learning about the night sky as we see it (I.e. show can see the Southern Cross?).

[@SurferDudex99]

After AAAAALLLL the explainers you've given us how have you waited this long to tell us this! This is important information!

[@NovaSixSix]

I half expected Neil to talk about the precession of Earth's rotational axis and how that affects what we view as the North/South star.

[@blakjedi]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@francisjohnson665]

Always interesting. 👍👍

[@erichowry7197]

Loved the video Dr. Tyson!!

[@DouglasdAquino]

Happy birthday Neil, thank you for bring all that knowledge to us, wish you all the best.

[@joseimpact]

wish this was longer!

[@KennyFromPhilly]

What fascinates me most about NDT is his ability to retain information with 💯 accuracy. It’s astounding. Time is fleeting. Madness Takes Control.

[@theoranjeboy]

That blur with long exposure is the star trail. Happy Birthday, Dr Tyson.

[@edwardzeya8131]

Happy birthday Dr Tyson. Thanks for being there when we are having thirst for that knowledge

[@quasar4601]

Very entertaining!!! Tuesday nite is my 20 min Science class

[@simonagudelogarcia]

Happy birthday Neil, thanks for doing this wonderful work!!

[@YungJay0]

"Are you burning thermonuclear energy in your core?" 🤣🤣🤣

[@erichowry7197]

Great video Dr. Tyson. You taught me something new!!

[@Kevlar-78]

Absolutely love you guys. So good

[@spark_two]

I enjoy the longer 45 min-1 hour episodes, don't get me wrong, but these shorter one or two topic episodes are just as great.

[@amytaylor3000]

there👋👋,how are you doing today?❤️❤️!

[@lauracarrillo6703]

I love this two guys !!!they make the talk star very funny and educational!!!! Thank you

[@amytaylor3000]

there👋👋,how are you doing today?❤️❤️

[@alexissoto-besares4006]

I love this post cast I always laugh 🤣 with you guys thanks 💯♥️🙏

[@mdm4504]

There is a story about two Irish brothers building a homestead cabin in eastern South Dakota. They wanted to align their cabin exactly North & South so they sighted in line with the north star. They were aware of the small error between Polaris and true North. They planned to do one sighting early in the night, wait 12 hours and and sight again, then split the difference for the exact direction. However the night was pretty cold so they took a few nips to keep warm. When they woke up the next morning they decided having their cabin aligned to within one or two degreesof true North was probably precise enough.

[@MrMockingbird1313]

Dr Tyson, you keep things real and understandable for us mortals. I live in St Louis, Missouri. This is a terrible place to stargaze because we have so much junk in the air. We have intense humidity because we are in two river valleys. Our altitude is only 400-600 feet above sea level. No stars can be seen on about half of our nights. At best only the moon, Venus, and Mars is ever visible. So thanks for explaining these concepts.

[@markpodesta4605]

Happy Birthday Neil! Hope you are enjoying your day. 🎂🎉😀☀️

[@desmondsigamoney1438]

Thanks so much. Have you done a video on the Southern Cross for those of us below the equator

[@AbdurrahmanAllahem]

Thank you, guys. Could you please allow the youtube cc (subtitle) for future episodes?

[@modestdaddy2000]

Hey all commentators! It’s well worth the $$ to see this man in person. Been twice and planning the next trip to take my family. It’s like this channel, but live. He is funny, brilliant and there are always some unexpected discussions that take place. It’s StarTalk++.

[@layla72]

Love these. Neil, Chuck, whats up!

[@jfreshh330]

Will you guys ever go back to the old format of Neil and the cohost in his office? I loved that setup so much more, these webcams are terrible quality and just the production quality of the videos seemed higher as you guys were filming with higher quality cameras too. Please consider 🥺

[@frankcross2558]

Fascinating! How do i join the patrons?

[@dbus1635]

Imagine these two having a chat over dinner, there'd be food flying everywhere.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

POLARIS: I'm so insignificant SIGMA OCTANTIS: I'm so forgettable.

[@biddinge8898]

Hi Neil! Happy birthday! I found a video of you dancing at a party and in that video I commented quote "CMON NEIL DANCE ASTRONOMY WON'T TALK ABOUT ITSELF" 😉. During my birthday late last month I was in the hospital dealing with geon bray syndrome so I hope you're having a great time!

[@microwswish5218]

Happy Birthday Neil✨

[@sapelesteve]

Happy Birthday Neil & I hope that you had a good one & were treated well! 👍👍🎂🎂😉😉

[@irkedoff]

Happy Birthday❣

[@reddwarf3046]

Show love to Chuck ❤️

[@SavageDarknessGames]

The point in knowing how to locate Polaris, which also leads to the little dipper, is to get the general direction of north, so as to get your bearings. Southern Crux is the South Hemmisphere equiv, for finding realative South.

[@nickglass12]

Good smart fun. Thanks guys!

[@Yash-tx6bb]

Happy Birthday to the only person who makes science intersting and easy to understand ✨

[@dbunt88]

Happy Birthday, Dr. Tyson!

[@tbev3363]

Love these explainers Niel! And Chuck. Chuck I know you mentioned the bump on your head in a earlier vid, did you get it looked at? Could be a lipoma [just a sack filled with skin cells]. I'm not a dermatologist but have watched a ton of Dr. pimple popper. 🤔 North star 🌟 🤩

[@MrJamesHWard]

Astronomy + shenanigans = the beauty of StarTalk

[@kamalpanfer3490]

Thanks!

[@MauricioGirardiSchappo]

do one for the cross constellation as the pointer to the south pole :)

[@erdemmemisyazici3950]

That is really cool. If I'm sailing out in the ocean I am totally checking the height of the North Star. 😁 Another awesome nature check ability unlocked. One I love to do is check for how many hours until the Sun sets by holding four fingers under it all the way down to the horizon which roughly equals an hour per four fingers.

[@benwagner5089]

You almost had the Polaris-submarine reference right. The first nuclear submarine was the Nautilus, not the Polaris. However, the first submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) was the Polaris missile, started around 1960. To be honest, I only remember that because of the old Batman movie when the Riddler used the missiles for skywriting his riddles.

[@nathan4599]

love you guys

[@ivancota9762]

6:35 the people are right, there is a star over the north pole that the axis points to, all the time, since there is Earth. We just don't know which one is it, and its not always the same one. But if given enough research, we could actually calculate which star is perfectly north for any day/week of the year.

[@muskyoxes]

Oh, that's why it's called Star Talk! I thought it was just interviews with celebrities.

[@richa7118]

Polaris was the name of the missile not the name of the submarine. Subs that carried Polaris missiles are called Polaris subs. The first to carry Polaris missiles was the George Washington.

[@justmodels1218]

i think the first nuclear powered submarine was the USS Nautilus.

[@richa7118]

@TheRenaissanceman65 the class of the sub is named for the first vessel in the class. The Geo. Washington is in the Washington class. The Ethan Allen class,the second class of ballistic missile subs also carried Polaris missiles. Other later classes would carry larger missiles such as the Posideon and Trident.

[@richa7118]

@@justmodels1218 yes but the Nautilus did not carry Posideon missiles

[@lauracarrillo6703]

Happy birthday to my personal astrophysics I love the way to explain all about the 🧬 science!!!

[@uschi414]

An entire episode on Polaris and not even a mention of how it wasn’t always the North Star and, how, in the distant future, it won’t be again. I’m a little disappointed…but I still love StarTalk. Thanks Neil and Chuck.

[@kkgc5760]

9:28 i imagined an advanced alien spieces from the polaris system pointing at our sun, that star is not remarkable😂

[@eliyahfeld]

great - thanks! (1st of all) - and one is louder than the other it's very hard to listen this way, for future episodes

[@georgee.diallynas6537]

Dr. Tyson, are you going to make a video about solar storms coronal ejections? Thank you

[@Laudhcris]

Happy Birthday, Neil!

[@buzatusebastian2735]

Pls do more cosmic quaries

[@dilonpolaris]

I just love the name POLARIS! And I'm fond of icy weather.

[@bannedagain8123]

I love these two I don’t even have to take drugs to feel high when I’m watching

[@AlexanderWeurding]

Great work!/1

[@AlexanderWeurding]

Harold and Kumar finding white castle

[@AlexanderWeurding]

Tnx

[@seanpwlim]

😂you guys are so amazingly talented and hilarious 🎉❤

[@abrahamwondafrash7549]

Happy birthday to my invaluable physics teacher! Wish you all the best!

[@michaeltovrea7947]

Wait a minute, are you telling me that there are people out there who take information at face value without doing research? Inconceivable!

[@amytaylor3000]

there👋👋,how are you doing today?❤️❤️!!

[@aurora4270]

Happy birthday From Germany

[@AaronShenghao]

America’s first nuclear submarine is “Nautilus”, tribute to fictional submarine which also have almost infinite endurance. The first submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) is “Polaris” which I think is hinting that those can attack USSR from polar icecaps.

[@Skarlett00]

I love Chucks jokes 🤣 another great episode.

[@isetfrances6124]

This is so cool cuz I moved to an area deemed The North Star🤩 but not seemingly known (among denizens there) for its relationship to trail of escape to black freedom 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@nelsonnichols922]

Happy birthday Dr. Tyson and thank you for the scientific education!

[@amytaylor3000]

there👋👋,how are you doing today?❤️❤️!!

[@Quifuh]

Wait, is this guy about to explain Kenshiro's Fist of the North Star?!

[@dmanparazitu]

maybe next time

[@DaremoTen]

In case anyone was wondering what is actually the brightest star from Earth, barring Sol, Chuck got it, it's Sirius, in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere it's Arturus.