Valerie Varnuska is a Westbury, NY, resident with a wide variety of interests, including an appreciation for trains and new developments in robotics. In her free time, Valerie Varnuska enjoys pursuing her favorite hobbies, including stargazing.

1. THE CIRCUMPOLAR
CONSTELLATIONS OF THE EARTH’S
HEMISPHERES
Valerie Varnuska

2. INTRODUCTION
 Valerie Varnuska is a Westbury, NY, resident with a wide variety of
interests, including an appreciation for trains and new developments in
robotics. In her free time, Valerie Varnuska enjoys pursuing her favorite
hobbies, including stargazing.
Stargazing is a pastime that people can enjoy from anywhere in the
world. While certain collections of stars can only be seen in any given
part of the world during certain times of year, some constellations, known
as circumpolar constellations, never leave the sky. These groups of stars
never seem to rise or set due to the perpendicular nature of the Earth’s
axis in relation to its orbit, which means the skies above the North and
South Poles change very little during the year.
For people living in the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, five primary
constellations are circumpolar, even from as near to the equator as 40
degrees latitude. These include Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco,
Cassiopeia, and Cepheus. Though inhabitants of the Southern
Hemisphere are able to see an even larger collection of stars than those
who live in the Northern Hemisphere, only three constellations can be
seen from this half of the Earth on a year-round basis. These include
Crux, Carina, and Cantaurus.