When you’re lost at night. Find tile North Star, a “fixed” pivotal star around which all others seem to turn. It’s over the North Pole. First locate the Big Dipper; four stars makeup its bowl and three its handle. Envision a line between the two pointer stars on the outside of the bowl, and extend it five times its own length.
You will come to the North Star, or Polaris, never more than 1 degree from true north. It is the end of the Little Dipper’s handle. Below a latitude of 40 degrees north (approximately that of Philadelphia or Denver) the Big Dipper slips below the horizon at times. In that case, use the W of the tightly clustered Cassiopeia to locate tile North Star.