Is there a 'South Star'?
The star Polaris is commonly known as the Northern Star because it always points North. This being said is there a South star that always points south?
There is a "South Star" called Sigma Octanis located in the constellation Octans, but it is so dim that virtually nobody calls it the south star.
Just another side note: Polaris doesn't always point North. The reason is that our Earth has a precession effect which make the North pole circulate around the sky. This picture illustrates my point.
EDIT: Just to clarify, the picture is showing the circulation of the south celestial pole around the south ecliptic pole.
EDIT2 : References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_star#mediaviewer/File:Precession_S.gif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_starPlease attribute sources of external information you include in your answers. This is where the image is taken from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Precession_S.png Thanks!
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Content dated before 7/24/2021 11:53 AM
TildalWave 8 years ago
Please attribute sources of external information you include in your answers. This is where the image is taken from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Precession_S.png Thanks!