Polaris — the North Star — is not the brightest star in the sky, and that surprises people.

It's a middling-bright one, sitting almost exactly above the North Pole.

Because the Earth spins on an axis pointing right at it, Polaris hardly moves all night while every other star wheels around it.

That is why sailors have used it for navigation for over two thousand years — face Polaris and you are facing north, no compass needed.

To find it, first find the Big Dipper (the Plough).

The two stars at the end of the bowl — Dubhe and Merak — are called the Pointers, because a line drawn through them, upward from the bowl, aims straight at Polaris about five times the distance between them.

It works every clear night, all year, from anywhere north of the equator.

Try this: on the next clear night, step outside for two minutes, find the Big Dipper, and follow the Pointers.

If you find it once, you'll find it for the rest of your life.