THE NORTHERN STAR BRAND

Northern Star International Broadcasters AS is using the Ursa Minor with the Northern Star as its logo.

About Northern Star, or Stella Polaris

“Each night, the stars seem to move across the sky.

Actually, it is the Earth that is turning. Only the Northern Star appears to hold a constant position. Measuring the angle between the Northern Star and the horizon tells you your latitude, how far you are to the North or South...

South of the Equator you could use the Southern Cross to work out your latitude”

Text from Royal Observatory Greenwich, Bldg 11, Flamsteed House.

“Polaris is the nearest bright star to the North spin axis of the Earth, and other stars appear to rotate around what is often called the Northern Star. Located just off the tip of the Little Dipper in the night sky, Polaris, also known as the Northern Star, has been used by sailors for ages as a navigation tool. Polaris has become more than just an indicator of the direction north. It is also a Cepheid variable star, meaning that it changes from bright to dim in a precise interval. Astronomers use the regularity of the Northern Star to help determine large distances in the universe. The star has been found to have a radius of about 46 times that of the sun, or about 32 million kilometres.”

From a text by Daniel Sorid

“The North Celestial Pole is the point in the sky about which all the stars seen from the Northern Hemisphere rotate. The North Star, also called Polaris, is located almost exactly at this point in the sky. If you go out at night and find the north star you will notice that it does not move during the course of the night, while all the other stars do move, they rotate from east to west around the north star.”

More on this theme may be found here.

About Ursa Minor

· Abbreviation: UMi

· Translation: The Lesser Bear

· Position in the Sky

· Right Ascension: 15 hours

· Declination: 70 degrees

· Visible between latitudes 90 and -10 degrees

· Best seen in June (at 9:00 PM)

Named Stars

· POLARIS (Alpha UMi)

· KOCAB (Beta UMi)

· Pherkad (Gamma UMi)

· Yildun (Delta UMi)

· Pherkad Minor (11 UMi)

The constellation Ursa Minor contains the group of stars commonly called the Little Dipper. The handle of the Dipper is the Little Bear's tail and the Dipper's cup is the Bear's flank. The Little Dipper is not a constellation itself, but an asterism, which is a distinctive group of stars. Another famous asterism is the Big Dipper in the constellation Ursa Major.

The most famous star in Ursa Minor is Polaris, the Northern Star. This is the star that is nearest to the North Celestial Pole. If you stood at the north pole, Polaris would be almost directly overhead. If you can spot Polaris in the sky, you can always tell which way is north. In addition, the angle of Polaris above the horizon tells you your latitude on the Earth. Because of this, Polaris was the most important star for navigating at sea.

To find Polaris, first find the Big Dipper. If you follow the two stars at the end of the cup upwards (out of the cup of the Big Dipper), the next bright star you will run into is Polaris. The distance to Polaris on the sky is about five times the angle between the two stars at the end of the cup of the Big Dipper. Because they are so useful for finding the all-important Northern Star, these two stars are known as the Pointer Stars. They are also called Dubhe and Merak (Merak is the one at the bottom of the cup).

From a text by Chris Dolan

Northern Star International Broadcasters AS wants to be a real Northern Star, a “Stella Polaris”, that many may see and orientate from, shining over the North Sea, the North Sea countries, the North Atlantic, the North European countries, and as far as the Lord will permit our signal to travel.

Show a gentle attitude towards all. The Lord is coming, soon. In conclusion, my brothers, fill your minds with those things that are good and deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honourable.

FROM ST PAULS LETTER TO PHILIPPIANS 4