But the biggest secret is that Polaris hasn t always been the North Star, and it won t always be. In

Up above the world so high , considering the nearest star after our sun is in fact Proxima Centauri, 4.24 light years away. A light year is equivalent girard perregaux to 9 trillion kilometers or 6 trillion miles, so 4.24 light years away is no short trip.
Like a diamond in the sky , something akin to the largest known diamond in the universe , which was discovered in June 2014 and is actually the center of a white dwarf star weighing in at a whopping million trillion trillion pounds. It s so new and barely understood it doesn t even have a name yet.
That song reminds me of some of the famous stars in our sky like the Sun, Sirius, Arcturus, Vega, Betelgeuse, and Polaris the latter more commonly known as the North Star. The North Star holds some secrets: it s not one star but in fact five, and the primary yellow supergiant (Polaris A or α UMi Aa) is a variable star, so its amplitude and period of variation change slowly over time.
But the biggest secret is that Polaris hasn t always been the North Star, and it won t always be. In fact it will only be our North Star for a couple thousand years or so. Previously, Alpha Draconis (Thuban) girard perregaux was the pole star between the 4th and 2nd millennium BCE, and Beta Ursae Minoris (Kochab) after that from around 1500 BCE to 500 CE. After Polaris we will have Gamma Cephei around a thousand years from now in 3000 CE.
The reason for this movement of the stars is due to the phenomenon of precession . Precession refers to the angular girard perregaux change of the rotational axis of a rotating body. Basically, our planet is like a spinning top; its axis slowly rotates as it spins. As it rotates (precesses), the pole and our axis of rotation trace an arc through space of one degree every 72 years, needing approximately 26,000 years for the full cycle.
So while we see Polaris as the North Star for now, your descendents twenty generations down the road from now probably will not. And even though nothing lasts forever, there is something that mimics precession that you can wear on your wrist and pass on to those descendents. And it also happens to proudly profess the words Jaeger-LeCoultre on the dial.
The watch I am referring to is the illustrious and incredilievable Jaeger-LeCoultre Duomètre Sphérotourbillon Moon , the most recent addition to the already stacked Duomètre collection. Building on the dual-wing platform that underpins these models, the Sphérotourbillon Moon takes a masterpiece and adds more masterful pieces.
But . . . I ll get to that later. First I want to provide a few good reasons why this stands as one of my favorite JLC pieces. In key words: dual-wing movement; girard perregaux super accurate moon phase; flyback girard perregaux seconds; cylindrical hairspring; bi-axial tourbillon; 42 mm case; dual power reserve; devastatingly beautiful good looks.
Okay, that last one is a bit subjective, girard perregaux I ll admit. But the rest cannot be denied as serious horological bragging points. I bet most people can t even name two other cylindrical hairsprings on watches with moon phases, let alone a bi-axial tourbillon. That would be because this watch is in a league of its own.
The dual-wing concept is where it all begins. It s an extremely effective solution to the problem of chronometric performance versus additional complications. As complications or even unique energy-sapping displays are added, the amount of power available to keep the balance running consistently is reduced. If these complications are running girard perregaux all the time, the negative effects can be counteracted, but in things like a chronograph or with complications that change only at specific times (like a midnight calendar change), the variable power available girard perregaux to the balance will affect the rate that the watch keeps during the operation of those complications or features.
The dual-wing concept takes care of this by utilizing two separate gear trains: girard perregaux One to to power the displays and complications and one to power the regulating organ: i.e., the bi-axial tourbillon. As a result, the time-keeping is not affected whenever the complications are active, thus assuring complete accuracy of the watch.
Without all of the other details girard perregaux I mentioned before, the Sphérotourbillon Moon just wouldn t be the same. There is a dual power reserve so you can keep an eye on the power remaining in both of the barrels, ensuring you always know when the watch needs to be wound.
This is critical for two reasons: for one, making sure the watch stays wound ensures that the accuracy isn t adversely affected due to power loss; and for another, the Sphérotourbillon Moon happens to house one of the top ten most accurate moon phases existing in a wristwatch.
That moon phase is accurate to one day every 3,887 years. Yeah, you read that right; three millennia from now you ll still have more than 800 years before you ll need to worry about adjusting the moon phase ahead the one day it s going to be off. That dual power reserve helps you keep the watch w