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> here in the southern hemisphere, there is no recognised "pole star" My polar alignment scope has etchings for Sigma Octantis (screenshot from companion iOS a

• Taniwha 8y ago
  we're talking about naked eye stars here, again no one in the Southern Hemisphere I've every heard of looks up and points at a "pole star"
  • davidcuddeback 8y ago
    > we're talking about naked eye stars here We're talking about pole stars. Being a naked eye star isn't a necessary condition. Choice of a pole star is a balance between brightness and proximity to the pole. > again no one in the Southern Hemisphere I've every heard of looks up and points at a "pole star" It's never too late to learn something new. :) More to the point, "the north and south polestars" would be well understood by much of Sky & Telescope's target audience, and that's who they're writing for. I get that it's going to be less common knowledge outside of their target audience, but that doesn't make the article incorrect, which seems to be what you want to argue.