Polaris' "elevation" ... its angle above your horizon ... is very close to
the north latitude of the place where you're located when you see it.
So, as your north latitide increases, the elevation of Polaris also increases.
And as you travel south, the elevation of Polaris decreases, until it's on
your northern horizon when you reach the equator.
Place . . . . . Elevation of Polaris
North pole . . . 90 degrees (over your head)
Anchorage . . 61 degrees
Oslo . . . . . . 59.9 degrees
Stockholm . . . 59.3
Moscow . . . . 55.8
Copenhagen . . . 55.7
Dublin . . . . . . 53.3
Berlin . . . . . . 52.5
London . . . . . 51.5
Winnipeg . . . . 50
Paris . . . . . . . 48.9
Ottawa . . . . 45.4
Salem OR . . . 45
Rome . . . . . . 42
Philadelphia . . . 40
Ankara, Beijing . . . 39.9
Washington . . . 38.9
Athens . . . . . 38
San Francisco . . . 37.8
Seoul . . . . . . 37.5
Las Vegas . . . 36.2
Tokyo . . . . . . 35.7
Los Angeles . . . 34
Casablanca . . . 33.6
Baghdad . . . . 33.3
Tripoli, Dallas . . . 32.8
Jerusalem . . . 31.8
Houston, Cairo . . . 30
Delhi . . . . . . 28.7
Miami . . . . . 25.8
Havana . . . . 23.1
Honolulu, Hanoi . . . 21
Guantanamo . . . 20
Mexico City . . . 19.4
Mumbai . . . . . 19.1
Quezon City . . . 14.6
Caracas . . . . 10.5
Singapore . . . 1.2
On the equator . . . Polaris is on the horizon.
South of the equator . . . you never see Polaris
In the Northern Hemisphere, the angle of Polaris above the horizon corresponds directly to the latitude of the location. Specifically, at the North Pole (90°N), Polaris is directly overhead at an angle of 90 degrees, while at the equator (0° latitude), Polaris is on the horizon at 0 degrees. Thus, as one moves northward, the angle of Polaris increases, reflecting the increase in latitude.
whatever latitude you are at, that is the angle to polaris.. and the other way around
The altitude of Polaris, the North Star, closely corresponds to the latitude of the observer in the Northern Hemisphere. Specifically, if you measure the angle of Polaris above the horizon, that angle is equal to the observer's latitude. For example, at 40 degrees north latitude, Polaris will appear 40 degrees above the northern horizon. This relationship helps navigators and astronomers determine their latitude by observing Polaris.
The North Star (Polaris) appears closest to the horizon at the Earth's equator (0° latitude) because as you move away from the equator towards the poles, the angle of Polaris above the horizon increases. At the North Pole (90° latitude), Polaris is directly overhead.
Polaris, also known as the North Star, is closely related to latitude because its position in the sky corresponds to the observer's latitude in the Northern Hemisphere. When you are at the North Pole (90° N latitude), Polaris is directly overhead at an angle of 90°. As you move southward, the angle of Polaris above the horizon decreases, matching your latitude; for example, at 30° N latitude, Polaris will appear about 30° above the horizon. In the Southern Hemisphere, Polaris is not visible, as it lies below the horizon.
The altitude of Polaris and the latitude of an observer are directly related. The altitude of Polaris in the sky is approximately equal to the observer's latitude in the Northern Hemisphere. The higher the latitude, the higher Polaris will appear in the sky.
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.
If Polaris has an altitude of +65 degrees, it indicates that you are located at a latitude of 65 degrees North. This is because the altitude of Polaris directly corresponds to your northern latitude position. Therefore, if you observe Polaris at that angle, it means you are 65 degrees north of the equator.
The altitude of Polaris, also known as the North Star, is directly related to the observer's latitude in the Northern Hemisphere. Specifically, the altitude of Polaris above the horizon is approximately equal to the observer's latitude. For example, if an observer is at 40 degrees north latitude, Polaris will be about 40 degrees above the horizon. This relationship allows navigators to determine their latitude by measuring the angle of Polaris.
The angle of Polaris above the northern horizon is very nearly equal to your north latitude, within about 1/3 of a degree. So it's over your head when you stand at the north pole, it sits nominally on your north horizon when you stand anywhere on the equator, and if you're south of the equator, you can never see it at all.
The latitude would also be approximately 40 degrees in this case.
To determine the altitude of Polaris, you can measure the angle between the horizon and Polaris using a simple instrument like a protractor or sextant. The altitude of Polaris above the horizon corresponds closely to your latitude in the Northern Hemisphere; for example, if you measure Polaris at an angle of 40 degrees above the horizon, you are approximately at 40° latitude. This relationship occurs because Polaris is positioned nearly directly above the North Pole.