5

So why is there no South Star?

Actually, there is a South Star, but unlike its northern counterpart it is a small, faint star. It is Sigma Octantis, in the very dull southern constellation of Octans, the Octant.

It is, in essence, the "Polaris of the Southern Sky" (some texts even refer to it as "Polaris Australis"), although at magnitude 5.5, this South Star is only 1/25 as bright as the North Star.

Northerners might wonder how those in the Southern Hemisphere find their way around without a bright benchmark near their pole. For that they can rely on Crux, the Southern Cross, whose longer bar points almost precisely toward the south pole of the sky.

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