Q:

Does Polaris (our northern star) have planets and stuff around it?

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The "stuff" part would be two other stars that are mostly outshone by the dying supergiant we see. Being a supergiant and indeed a massive star, Polaris is now blowing very powerful winds around its general vicinity. Even a relatively thick asteroid belt if there is any wouldn't survive the bombardment of radiation much more for dust that surrounds the star. Born with a mass of around 6 suns, the probability to develop a planetary system is quite low. When stars were younger, they tend to be very active and Polaris being more massive may have stunted the growth of objects around it due to very powerful winds. Then again, if there is any planet that would survive that kind of activity and somehow form, there are two stars one at 17AU and another at 2400AU that can perturb its orbit. If a hypothetical planet did form in such a system, it would have long left the system being hurled out by the recent configuration. However, the universe offers endless possibilities which can say I am ...  more
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