Kenneth Ramsay, age 10, of Snowflake, Arizona, for his question:

Does the North Star change with the seasons?

Polaris the North Star hangs high in the sky, almost directly above the North Pole. It does not change its position with the seasons. But its position changes when we travel north or south. At the North Pole, the North Star is almost directly overhead, at the very top of the sky. As we go south, we see it lower and still lower in the sky. And Polaris can tell us how far we are from the North Pole.

There are 90 degrees of latitude between the North Pole and the equator—and 90 matching degrees in the sky above. At the North Pole, Polaris is 90 degrees above the horizon, which is at the top of the sky. Phoenix, Arizona, is near Latitude 33 degrees. Here the North Star is about 33 degrees above the horizon, which is a third of the way up to the top of the sky. It stays right there if you travel east or west. But if you go north, Polaris is higher and if you go south it is lower in the sky.