The above diagram shows some of the important stars in the night sky as seen in Canada and all countries of the northern hemisphere. The seven stars on the left are the Big Dipper (a cooking pot with a long handle) that is part of a much larger Ursa Major constellation. The five stars on the right form a large "W" which is the Cassiopeia constellation. The star in the center directly over the stickman is the North Star. According to the astronomers the official name of the North Star is Polaris. Polaris is part of the Small Dipper and Ursa Minor constellation which I have not drawn.
If you draw a straight line through the two stars of the Big Dipper that are closest to the stickman in my diagram then the line should point directly at Polaris. The distance from Polaris to the Big Dipper is approximately equal to the distance from Polaris to Cassiopeia. You should therefore be able to imagine drawing a large circle around Polaris that passes through the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia will be approximately one third of the distance around the circle from the Big Dipper as measured between the two closest stars.
Because we are standing on a spinning earth the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia will appear to slowly orbit around Polaris in a clockwise direction following the path of the circle you have just imagined. It takes 24 hours for the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia to complete a full circular orbit around Polaris.
When living in a remote northern community with very long winter nights it becomes an advantage to be able to look up in the sky and estimate what time it is. After spending a few nights frequently comparing the positions of Polaris, the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia with the time on a clock you should soon be able to amaze your friends with your new ability to estimate what time it is by looking at the stars.
The farther north you travel the higher in the sky Polaris becomes until it is eventually directly overhead when you are at the North Pole. That is why Polaris is often called the North Star, because it is directly over the North Pole. In many of the remote Inuit communities of northern Canada the star Polaris appears to be almost directly overhead. I found it to be fairly easy to find Polaris in the night sky and determine which direction was north when I was standing on level, flat pavement in southern Ontario, just north of the city of Toronto, at about 44 degrees north latitude. It was far more difficult to determine which way is north when looking straight up at Polaris while standing on uneven, sloped ground in Clyde River, on the coast of Baffin Island across from Greenland, at about 70 degrees north latitude.
I found that a traditional compass with a magnet needle that is suppose to point toward the north pole does not work properly in many northern Canadian locations. I even used a professional quality mapmaker's compass without achieving any better results. Walking a distance of less than 100 meters within an open field could often cause the needle to change direction by as much as 120 degrees. It is possible that many remote places in northern Canada are just too near the North Magnet Pole for a magnetic compass to work properly. It is also highly likely that the compass needle was pointing at concentrations of minerals with strong magnetic properties within the Precambrian bedrock.
