The AsterNym star registry
Polis
Polis: the blue-white star of Sagittarius
blue-white · Sagittarius · μ Sgr
Polis is a blue-white star, the colour of the hottest, youngest suns in the constellation Sagittarius, one of the stars with a proper name recognised in the IAU Catalog of Star Names. At magnitude 3.84 it is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky.
Most stars in the sky are anonymous points of light. Polis is not. Some IAU-recognised names are ancient; others were adopted by the IAU only recently. Either way, the star already has a scientific identity, and a dedication attaches a human story to it.
Real star · Personal dedication · Recorded in the AsterNym registry
See what a dedicated page looks like: preview
Polis at a glance
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Other name
- μ Sgr
- Catalogue number
- HIP 89341
- Distance
- Not quoted. The published parallax for this supergiant is several times smaller than its own error bar, so no distance is quoted here.
- Brightness
- Magnitude 3.84 naked-eye
- Star type
- B8Iab(e)
- Colour
- blue-white
- Best seen from
- Almost everywhere on Earth
- Right ascension
- 18h 13m 46s
- Declination
- −21° 03′ 32″
J2000 catalogue coordinates that can be independently cross-checked against astronomical databases. A planetarium app showing coordinates of date will differ slightly, because proper motion and precession move a star’s apparent position over time.
What kind of star is Polis?
Polis is a blue-white supergiant. Its surface runs somewhere between 10,000 and 30,000°C, which is what gives it a blue-white cast. Colour in a star is a temperature reading rather than a decoration: the hot ones are blue and the cool ones red, the opposite way round to a kitchen tap.
Its colour is not the whole story. A blue-white star still in the steady part of its life would burn for tens of millions of years. This one is past that stage, and it is cool at the surface because it has swollen outward, not because it was born this way.
It is a supergiant, which means it has left the stable part of its life and swollen enormously. Put it where the Sun is and its surface would swallow the inner planets. Stars this size do not fade quietly; this one will end as a supernova, and on a human timescale that could be tonight or in a million years.
Polis barely moves against the background sky, which is mostly a statement about how far away it is. For every practical purpose, including yours, it is fixed.
What does the name Polis mean?
Plato analyzes the polis in the Republic, the Greek title of which, Πολιτεία, itself derives from the word polis.
=== Modern usage === The Modern Greek word πόλη (polē) is a direct descendant of the ancient word and roughly means 'city' or an urban place.
Name origin from English Wikipedia. AsterNym does not invent an etymology where none is recorded, and most stars in this catalogue have none: they carry modern names, or a catalogue designation and nothing older.
What could a Polis dedication represent?
Polis is especially meaningful for someone who:
- · Deserves something older than any gift shop
- · Marks a beginning, an anniversary or a promise
- · Is remembered every time you look up
- · Has a light you want recorded somewhere permanent
Dedication idea
“For the one I think of when I find Sagittarius in the sky.”
Where can you see Polis?
It sits 21° south of the celestial equator, so it clears the horizon everywhere short of latitude 69°N, in practice, every inhabited latitude on Earth. It passes directly overhead at latitude 21°S. It stands highest at midnight in June, so June and July evenings are the best time to look. At magnitude 3.84 it is a naked-eye star only under a dark sky, binoculars make it certain.
Polis belongs to Sagittarius.
What does Polis mean in astrology?
The classical fixed-star tradition: Ptolemy, the medieval Behenian lists, Robson’s 1923 compilation. Is silent on Polis, and we don’t invent lore where none exists. What astrology can still read is the star’s real position, below.
Projected onto the zodiac the way fixed-star astrology reads any star, Polis stands at 3° Capricorn at the J2000 epoch, and the Sun passes that degree around 22 December in the years around 2000. Fixed-star longitude shifts slowly against the tropical zodiac because of precession, about one degree every seventy-two years, so a natal conjunction must be calculated for the birth year rather than read off this J2000 value or a calendar date.
Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions. The position and dates are computed.
Dedicate Polis to someone who matters
A flower fades. A card is eventually put away. A star gives your message a place in the sky.
from$29.95a year
Dedicate Polis →Real star · your message · a page to share
Your Polis dedication includes
- Your chosen dedication name
- Your personal message
- Polis's real astronomical coordinates
- A shareable dedication page
- Its location on the AsterNym Galaxy Map
- An optional printable certificate and gift presentation
Polis keeps its established astronomical name. Your dedication is a personal commemorative record within the AsterNym registry.
Frequently asked questions about Polis
- What does Polis mean in astrology?
- The classical fixed-star tradition has no documented meaning for Polis. Projected onto the zodiac, Polis stands at 3° Capricorn, and the Sun passes that degree each year around 22 December.
- Is Polis the brightest star?
- Polis shines at magnitude 3.84 · visible to the naked eye on a clear night, one of the few thousand stars with an officially recognised name.
- How far away is Polis?
- No distance is quoted for Polis. The published parallax for this supergiant is several times smaller than its own error bar, so no distance is quoted here.
- Which constellation contains Polis?
- Polis is part of Sagittarius.
- Can everyone see Polis?
- It sits 21° south of the celestial equator, so it clears the horizon everywhere short of latitude 69°N, in practice, every inhabited latitude on Earth. It passes directly overhead at latitude 21°S. It stands highest at midnight in June, so June and July evenings are the best time to look. At magnitude 3.84 it is a naked-eye star only under a dark sky, binoculars make it certain.
- Is dedicating Polis an official astronomical renaming?
- No. Polis keeps its internationally recognised astronomical name. An AsterNym dedication records your personal name and message in the AsterNym registry without changing the star's scientific identity.
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