The North and South Celestial Poles

The North and South Celestial Poles Imagine a line following the Earth's axis, going out of the Earth, either north or south, and off into the sky. Eventually it would reach a star that we can see in the night sky. The point at which it reaches the star is called the Celestial Pole. The star is the Pole Star. [The sphere, surrounding the Earth, on which Classical astrologers thought these stars lay is the Celestial Sphere.]

Definition: [Ancient Astrological Concepts] If you look up at the stars at night, you will see that they all seem to circle around a single point in the sky. In the northern hemisphere this is the North Celestial Pole, in the southern hemisphere this point is the South Celestial Pole.

Further Information: The celestial poles are projections of the Earth's poles onto the night sky. That the stars seem to rotate around these poles is because of the Earth's rotation about its axis - an axis which culminates at the earthly north and south poles. See Viewpoint for further information.

There is no particular southern Pole Star, but the star Polaris is currently closest to the North Celestial Pole.