I have just been out on the bridge wing again, its turned into a lovely evening, new moon this evening, so no or little light pollution, and only a very few scattered clouds low on the horizon.
We are about 6 1/2 degrees North, and heading generally south, so Polaris was seen behind us, around the correct altitude, but again as there is no horizon with no moon, (well not clear enough for an accurate sextant altitude) the best i could do was around 06 degrees 15 minutes of altitude. With dip, etc that works out about right, but not good enough for navigation.
Ursa Major is very helpful to us for pinpointing Polaris as the last two point to Polaris. If you dont know what i am saying, there are hundreds of images available. A line from Merak to Dubhe will always point to Polaris.
Right now Ursa Major is above Polaris where we are at around 120E long, so anyone can check my facts if they wish, but the point i am making is that i know how far approximately from Dubhe Polaris is, and we will be on about the equator by this time tomorrow, and i doubt i will see Polaris so low, as it will be right on the horizon, but i will be able to see Ursa Major, and will know exactly where to look for Polaris. Weather and clouds permitting of course.
Purely for illustration only, follow this link, and the 4th picture down will show you what i see from here with reference to Polaris being below Ursa Major,
http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2015/05/06/ursa-major-makes-a-daytime-appearance-in-duluth/At present it is just after 13:00 GMT, and my facts and observations can be checked by anyone who has a knowledge of the stars.
The constellation of Orion is setting to the west, and Sirius was still visible, we have a destination that is around 16 degrees south, so i will be able to keep an eye out and if i see Polaris i will certainly let you know!
One other observation i need to make is that if the stars revolve around Polaris, which i dont dispute, even though Polaris is not perfectly aligned I’ve geographic pole, then why does the southern constellations revolve around a point where a southern star would be positioned? There is no southern Polaris star, at least not bright enough for sailors to use effectively, but it is clearly seen from the southern constellations, and stars such as A centuri that there is a southern axis to the stars, and yet the constellations where the southern and northern stars meet is seamless?
No grinding, or displacement. The stars that have a low declination ie that would pass overhead at the equator, rise in the east, set in the west, and keep their relative positions in the heavens.
Anyone care to enlighten me?