Your at the equator if you see Polaris at the horizon
Your at the equator if you see Polaris at the horizon
Where on Earth are you if Polaris is on your horizon?
If Polaris cannot be seen because it is just below the horizon, you would be located at a latitude slightly south of the North Pole, specifically at a latitude near 89 degrees north. At this position, Polaris would be too low on the horizon to be visible. As you move further south, Polaris becomes visible again as you approach the latitude where it appears above the horizon.
If Polaris cannot be seen because it is just below the horizon, you must be located at a latitude slightly south of the North Star's position, which is approximately 90 degrees north. Specifically, you would be at a latitude of about 89 degrees south or lower, as Polaris is only visible in the Northern Hemisphere. In this situation, you would be too far south to see Polaris above the horizon.
On the horizon
You would never see Polaris there because it would always be 41 degrees or more below the northern horizon. On the other hand you can see many fine stars and constellations that are never seen in North Europe or the north of the USA and Canada.
If someone is at the horizon, they would see Polaris, also known as the North Star, located at a specific angle above the horizon depending on their latitude. In the Northern Hemisphere, Polaris is positioned nearly directly above the North Pole, so it appears higher in the sky the further north one travels. At the equator, Polaris would be right at the horizon, while in the Southern Hemisphere, it would not be visible at all.
At the Tropic of Capricorn (approximately 23.5 degrees south latitude), Polaris, the North Star, is not visible and is located below the horizon. Polaris can only be seen in the Northern Hemisphere and its altitude above the horizon increases the further north you go.
The altitude of Polaris at the equator is 0 degrees. This means that Polaris is directly on the horizon and not visible at all from the equator. Polaris can only be seen in the northern hemisphere at latitudes above 23.5 degrees.
As seen from Lima, Peru, Polaris is always about 12 degrees below the point on the horizon due north of the observer. So it is never visible.
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.
At 40 degrees latitude, Polaris, also known as the North Star, will appear approximately 40 degrees above the northern horizon. This is because the angle of Polaris above the horizon corresponds closely to the observer's latitude in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, if you are at 40 degrees north latitude, Polaris will be positioned directly overhead at the North Pole and will gradually lower to the horizon as you move south, reaching 0 degrees at the equator.