ursa minor

The Little Bear, or more commonly know as the The Little Dipper, contains Polaris, the North Star, at the tip of its handle. Polaris appears to be aligned with the Earth’s axis. All of the stars in the Northern Hemisphere seem to circle around Polaris as the Earth rotates, while Polaris remains stationary and is a very useful guide for navigation. However, even the stars in the sky are not permanently fixed. In fact, 4,000 years ago a star named Thuban marked the celestial north pole.