How far from the true North Celestial Pole is Polaris located?

Answer

About 0.7 degrees away

Polaris is not perfectly aligned with the North Celestial Pole (NCP); it exhibits a slight displacement. This distance is quantified as approximately 0.7 degrees. This small deviation means that over the course of an evening, Polaris does trace a very small circular path around the true pole. For perspective, the apparent width of the full Moon in the night sky is only about half a degree, illustrating that Polaris's nightly circuit is only slightly larger than the diameter of the Moon itself. This precision is critical when comparing naked-eye observation against telescopic viewing, as the slight movement becomes measurable over several hours, distinguishing it from other stars that trace much wider arcs due to Earth's rotation.

How far from the true North Celestial Pole is Polaris located?

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