TurtleDog's Blog: How to Find the North Star in the Northern Hemisphere

1/2/12

How to Find the North Star in the Northern Hemisphere

Finding the North Star is not only an important introduction to astronomy but it may also help you find your way home :-). Please excuse my illustrations but hopefully they help you to locate the North Star in the Northern Hemisphere . Please read on....

Difficulty:: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Clear and dark night

- 1
  As mentioned in my introduction, please excuse my illustrations (I did the best I can)...
- 2
  Keep in mind that the North Star is NOT the brightest star in the sky. People often say this but it isn't true.
- 3
  If you live in the northern hemisphere (which you do if you live in the USA), this Ehow will best serve you....
- 4
  During Summer, Spring and Fall in the Northern Hemisphere you can easily find the north star by locating the big dipper.
- 5
  The big dipper is the dipper shaped (or even 'P') shape picture I've drawn above. Sorry it was so fuzzy. I used to have these pics on eHow but when they closed their writers program it was tough to transfer here. Gaze at the Summer, Spring or Fall night sky and find the star constellation shaped as shown.
- 6
  Note the star I have the dots (........) drawn next to on the big dipper. When looking in the sky, find that same star in the big dipper, then follow your eyes to the adjacent star. This is the north star.
- 7
  If you are looking at the night sky in the winter, the rules change....
- 8
  The big dipper will be visible during the winter since it will be below the horizon out of your view. During the winter you need to find Cassiopeia.
- 9
  Cassiopeia is an "M" Shaped Constellation (or "W" shaped if you'd prefer). I show this in my illustration above.
- 10
  Again, please note the star I have the dots (........) drawn next to leading to the North Star.....
- 11
  When looking in the winter sky, find that same star in Cassiopeia, then follow your eyes to the adjacent star. This is the north star. Again, keep in mind that it is not the brightest star in the sky.
- 12
  Facing in the direction of the North Star will put you in a pretty close direction to North. Try it on your next clear night. Remember, summer, spring, fall... look for the Big Dipper. In Winter, the big dipper won't be visible, so look for Cassiopeia. Have fun and good luck!!
  
  Again sorry for the picture quality. Will fix sometime when I figured it out :-)