Polaris is best known as

Polaris, designated Alpha Ursae Minoris, commonly the North Star or Pole Star, is the brightest star in the constellation of Ursa Minor. It is cert close to the north celestial pole, making it the current north pole star. The revised Hipparcos parallax gives a distance to Polaris of about 433 light-years (133 parsecs), while calculations by other methods derive distances around 30% closer.

Polaris is a multiple star, comprising the main star (Polaris Aa, a yellow supergiant) in orbit with a smaller companion (Polaris Ab); the pair in orbit with Polaris B (discovered in August 1779 by William Herschel). There were once thought to be two more distant components - Polaris C and Polaris D - but these have been shown not to be physically associated with the Polaris system.