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Earth's North Pole points to a direction in space marked by the North Star. Polaris is both a navigation aid and a remarkable star in its own right. It is the brightest member of a triple-star system and is a pulsating variable star. Polaris gets brighter and fainter periodically as the star’s diameter grows and shrinks over a four-day cycle.Polaris is a kind of star known as a Cepheid variable. Astronomers use these stars as "standard candles" because their true brightness depends on their period of pulsation: Brighter stars pulsate slower than fainter stars. How bright a star appears in...

Police open investigation of hit by Bruins playerBy HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer 11 hours, 30 minutes ago BOSTON (AP) - Montreal police started a criminal investigation Thursday into the on-ice hit by Boston’s Zdeno Chara that left the Canadiens’ Max Pacioretty with a severe concussion and cracked vertebra. Police said they are acting on a request by Quebec’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions, Louis Dionne. After evidence is collected, it will be determined if there are grounds for prosecution, they said. But Pacioretty said he doesn’t want Chara prosecuted. “I sincerely appreciate all of the support that I...