when it crosses the meridian at that time. Complementarily, Vega swoops down and kisses the horizon at true North at midnight on Dec 31/Jan 1, as seen from 51° N.

Each night the positions of the stars appear to change as the Earth rotates. However, when a star is located along the Earth's axis of rotation, it will remain in the same position and thus is called a pole star. The direction of the Earth's axis of rotation gradually changes over time in