1. Northern Circumpolar Constellations

2. What does circumpolar mean?
to circle around the pole- or North Star.
daily trace circles around the north celestial pole, without setting or dipping below the horizon.
move in a counterclockwise direction.
On any given night, the constellation is visible during a portion of the circle; the rest is traced out when the constellation is hidden in the daylight sky.

3. This is what I mean:

5. Circumpolar Constellations:
Ursa Major, the Big Bear (includes the Big Dipper)
Ursa Minor, the Little Bear
Cassiopeia, the Queen of Ethiopia
Cepheus, the King of Ethiopia
Draco the Dragon

8. The Big Dipper shows the way to Polaris

9. But it is not a real constellation:

11. What is it? An ASTERISM
The Big Dipper and Little Dipper are part of two other official constellations
The Great Bear and Little Bear respectively.
They are a familiar, but unofficial grouping of stars.

13. The Little Dipper w/ Polaris

14. Why is Polaris so important?
it stays relatively fixed in the heavens while all of the other stars move in circular arcs throughout the night.
In the past, it has been called ‘the ship star’, ‘the leading star’, ‘star of the sea’ and the ‘steering star’
Native Americans called it the ‘nail of the sky’.

15. Draco the Dragon

16. The King and Queen

18. Does Precession effect the Pole Star? YES!!
The Earth is like a spinning top.

19. This wobble changes the spot that the Earth’s axis points to in the Northern sky.

20. These are the stars visible in the southern polar sky.