Empirical Earth · The Sky — Sun, Moon & Stars

Pole stars & precession

The claim

“All stars circle Polaris — just a disc spinning under a dome.”

What is measured

Polaris stands at an altitude equal to your latitude: overhead at the North Pole, on the horizon at the equator, gone in the south where σ Octantis rules. Related sky entries: Polaris is not nailed in place, star trails, and the southern sky.

What would show this is wrong

Polaris sitting at an altitude not equal to your latitude, or remaining visible south of the equator.

Sources

  1. Pole stars & axial precession. Standard positional astronomy — Polaris and σ Octantis; ≈25,772-yr precession cycle; Thuban (~2700 BC) and Vega (~13,700 AD) as past/future pole stars (Meeus, link
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