"Orbital north", a.k.a. the north ecliptic pole, isn't really something that makes sense to plot on a map. It's a three-dimensional vector that points in the di

"Orbital north", a.k.a. the north ecliptic pole, isn't really something that makes sense to plot on a map. It's a three-dimensional vector that points in the direction of the northern constellation Draco. So when viewed from the perspective of an observer on the Earth's surface, it appears to trace out a circle in the sky (centered on Polaris) every 23 hours and 56 minutes, as the Earth rotates under it. I suppose if you want, you could calculate the projection of that vector onto a local tangent plane to the Earth's surface at a particular instant in time, and translate that to a compass direction. It would point somewhere between NNW and NNE, depending on your latitude, time of year, and time of day. (If I'm visualizing it correctly, it ought to point due north at local noon on the summer and winter solstices.)