celestial poles
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celestial poles
The North and South Celestial Poles are the equivalents in the sky of the North and South Poles on Earth. Earth’s axis joins the North and South Poles; extended northward it points to the North Celestial Pole, and extended southward it points to the South Celestial Pole. The North Celestial Pole is roughly marked by the star Polaris in the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Dipper). Polaris is only three-quarters of one degree away from the true pole. To find Polaris, find Ursa Major (the Big Dipper) and extend the imaginary line joining the two stars known as the Pointers. There is no star marking the South Celestial Pole; the nearest star visible to the naked eye is Sigma Octantis. To find the South Celestial Pole, find the constellation of the Southern Cross and extend the imaginary line joining the two stars that form its longer arm.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
References in periodicals archive
The constellation chart at left shows the asteroid's race from practically the south to north
celestial poles in just 12 hours.
"You don't want to be right at the equator because you couldn't get the
celestial poles from the equatorial regions.
To find out, I traced the paths of the
celestial poles for the next 26,000 years.
Thanks to Earth's rotational momentum, the sky, however, spins completely around the north and south
celestial poles every 24 hours or so without relying on fluid mechanics to keep its heavenly wheel turning.
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