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Your latitude!
Polaris will be 23.5 degrees above the northern horizon when viewed from the Tropic of Cancer.
If Polaris appears 60° above the northern horizon, then you are pretty near 60° north latitude. If you're on the equator ... 0° north latitude ... then Polaris is on the horizon ... 0° altitude. If you're at the north pole ... 90° north latitude ... then Polaris is over your head ... 90° altitude. The altitude above the northern horizon at which Polaris appears is nearly identical to your north latitude. ================================================= The difference (error) between Polaris and the real North Celestial Pole is about 0.7 degree. Not good enough for precise navigation or surveying, but just fine for directions when you're hiking.
90 degrees
The altitude doesn't depend much on whether the night is clear.If you live in the northern hemisphere, the altitude of Polaris above the horizon will APPROXIMATELY be equal to your latitude. If you live in the southern hemisphere, Polaris will be BELOW the horizon, as many degrees as you are south of the equator.
it's 23 degrees below the horizon; you won't see it.
Polaris (or the North Star) is almost directly above the North pole. This means that when you stand on the north pole and look directly up, you will see Polaris. This also means that when you stand at the equator and look directly north, you will see Polaris on the horizon. You can not see Polaris from the Southern Hemisphere. The angle Polaris is above the horizon is equal to the degree latitude that you are standing on. Therefore at the equator, Polaris is 0 degrees above the horizon and at the north pole, Polaris is 90 degrees above the horizon.
whatever latitude you are at, that is the angle to polaris.. and the other way around
The angle of Polaris above the northern horizon increases.
angle it makes with respect to horizon is equal to observers latitude. i.e. Philadelphia latitude 40 degrees so Polaris 40 degrees above horizon
Polaris (the "North Star") doesn't have a latitude. But that's OK, because latitude is not what you're looking for. You're really trying to ask for its "elevation" ... the angle between the horizon and Polaris in the sky. That angle is equal to the observer's north latitude, so it would be easy to answer if we knew what location you're actually interested in. Here are a few possibilities: -- Massena NY . . . . . 44.9° above the northern horizon -- Rochester NY . . . . 43.2° above the northern horizon -- Buffalo NY . . . . . . 42.9° above the northern horizon -- 85th St Transverse in Central Park, Manhattan . . . 40.8° above the northern horizon
At 45 degrees north latitude, the north celestial pole appears 45 degrees above the northern horizon. At 45 degrees south latitude, the south celestial pole appears 45 degrees above the southern horizon.