Observed Polaris on August 5, 2022
- I observed Polaris this evening. Mary and I are in the garage making tie-die shirts. The latest measurement puts the distance of Polaris at 447.6 light years, or around year 1575 at the time of this writing. However, at the time Polaris was receiving light from an earlier Earth. That light would not have travelled 447.6 light years from Earth because both stars are moving.
- Achernar (Wikipedia)
Achernar is the brightest star in the constellation of Eridanus and the ninth-brightest in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Eridani, which is Latinized from α Eridani and abbreviated Alpha Eri or α Eri. The name Achernar applies to the primary component of a binary system. The two components are designated Alpha Eridani A (the primary) and B (the secondary), with the latter known informally as Achernar B. As determined by the Hipparcos astrometry satellite, this system is located at a distance of approximately 139 light-years (43 parsecs) from the Sun.