How to Find the North Star (Polaris) in 4 Easy Steps

Polaris, the North Star, has helped people find their way for centuries. It isn't the brightest star in the sky. Plenty of people are surprised to learn it's only moderately bright. What makes it special is where it sits: almost exactly above Earth's North Pole. While every other star circles through the night, Polaris stays put. Once you can find it, you'll always know which way is north. Here's how to find it in a couple of minutes from anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere.

Step 1: find the Big Dipper

The Big Dipper is seven bright stars shaped like a ladle: four make the bowl and three make a curved handle. It's part of the larger constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. Face north. Depending on the season and time of night, the Dipper may be high overhead, standing on its handle or sitting low near the horizon, but from most of the US it's up all year round.

Step 2: follow the pointer stars

Find the two stars that make the outer edge of the bowl, the side farthest from the handle. These are Merak (at the bottom) and Dubhe (at the lip), known as the Pointer Stars. Draw an imaginary line from Merak through Dubhe, out of the top of the bowl.

Step 3: go about five times the distance

Keep going along that line for about five times the gap between the two pointers. The first reasonably bright star you land on, sitting fairly alone in its part of the sky, is Polaris. You've found north.

Step 4: check your work with the Little Dipper

Polaris is the end of the handle of the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor). The Little Dipper is much fainter than the Big one, and from a city you may only see Polaris and the two stars at the end of its bowl. From a dark site, you can trace the whole faint ladle curving away from Polaris.

When the Big Dipper is low: use Cassiopeia

On fall and early winter evenings the Big Dipper sits low in the north and can hide behind trees or buildings. That's when Cassiopeia rides high. It's a bright W (or M) of five stars on the opposite side of Polaris from the Big Dipper. Polaris sits roughly between the two, so if you can find either one, you can find the North Star.

A neat trick: Polaris tells you your latitude

The height of Polaris above your northern horizon is roughly equal to your latitude. From Miami, around 26° north, it hangs low. From Minneapolis, around 45° north, it's halfway up the sky. At the North Pole it would be straight overhead, and from the equator it would sit right on the horizon. A fist held at arm's length covers about 10° of sky, so you can estimate your latitude with nothing but your hand.

Why the North Star won't always be the North Star

Earth's axis slowly wobbles, like a spinning top, in a cycle that takes about 26,000 years. Over that time, the spot in the sky the axis points to drifts. Polaris is our pole star for now, and it will get slightly closer to the true pole over the next century before drifting away. Thousands of years from now, the bright star Vega will take its turn as a rough North Star.

Quick tips

• Let your eyes adjust for 10–20 minutes, and use a red light or your phone's night mode.
• Don't look for the brightest star. Polaris is noticeable, not dazzling.
• Once you know where north is from your backyard, note a landmark under Polaris. It never moves.

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Clear skies!