It is partly true. Polaris is in fact a triple star system. The youngest of the three stars (Polaris Aa) is indeed younger than sharks at between 45 and 67My old. It is in tight orbit with Polaris Ab which is 500My old, and Polaris B which is 1.5By old and a little bit farther away. Here’s a pic from Hubble:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Polaris_alpha_ursae_minoris.jpg

[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I feel cheated that the north star is in fact 3 stars.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

I think it’s also worth mentioning that Polaris Aa, the youngest star in the triplet, is also the brightest by 3 orders of magnitude. Without Polaris Aa, we wouldn’t actually consider it as the North Star at all…so I think you are safe to continue using this as a fact.

Go blow some people’s minds, everyone!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

Me too. It’s a sick fact. Sharks are still older than trees tho…

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Happens a lot. Sometimes a "star" is actually a whole galaxy.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I want to know how three stars can form as a system at very different times. Shouldn't they have similar ages?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

My understanding is that, on a cosmic scale, these timeframes are not tremendously different!