Polaris (α UMi, α Ursae Minoris, Alpha Ursae Minoris, commonly North Star, Northern Star or Pole Star, also Lodestar, sometimes Guiding star) is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star.

Based on measurements from the Hipparcos astrometry satellite, Polaris is estimated to be at a distance of about 434 light-years from Earth. It is a multiple star, consisting of the main star α UMi A, two smaller companions, α UMi B and α UMi Ab, and two distant components α UMi C and α UMi D. α UMi B was discovered in 1780 by William Herschel.

α UMi A is a six solar mass F8 supergiant (Ib) or bright giant (II). The two smaller companions are: α UMi B, a 1.5 solar mass F3 main sequence star orbiting at a distance of 2400 AU, and α UMi Ab (or P), a very close dwarf with an 18.8 AU radius orbit. There are also two distant components α UMi C and α UMi D.

Polaris B can be seen even with a modest telescope and was first noticed by William Herschel in 1780. In 1929, it was discovered by examining the spectrum of Polaris A that it had another very close dwarf companion (variously α UMi P, α UMi a or α UMi Ab), which had been theorized in earlier observations (Moore, J.H and Kholodovsky, E. A.). In January 2006, NASA released images from the Hubble telescope, directly showing all three members of the Polaris ternary system. The nearer dwarf star is in an orbit of only 18.5 AU (2.8 billion km, about the distance from our Sun to Uranus) from Polaris A, explaining why its light is swamped by its close and much brighter companion.

Jim Sterling is a television producer and writer.

A native of Boulder, Colorado, Sterling moved to the West Coast in 1988 to attend Pepperdine University. After graduation, he worked at 20th Century Fox as production assistant. Later he acted, wrote and produced the independent film Gunplay (1994), a dark comedy which became a cult favorite through minimal German distribution.

Following several stints as a researcher and writer's assistant, Sterling worked as a production assistant on the L.A. Law television series (1994). Since then he has collaborated on selected TV-series, including Space: Above and Beyond (1995), Three (1998), L.A. Doctors (1998), The Practice (2001–2002), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2003–2005), Numb3rs (2005) and The Bronx is Burning (2007).