The stars that appear to circle as the Earth rotates are called ______.

• A. Zodiac stars
• B. North star
• C. Pole star
• D. Circumpolar stars

Answer: (D)

As Earth spins, the sky appears to rotate around the celestial pole. Stars that lie very close to that pole trace small circles in the sky and never dip below the horizon; they stay visible all night, seeming to circle around the pole. These are circumpolar stars. Your latitude matters: farther north (or south) you are, the more stars stay circumpolar. Polaris, the star near the north celestial pole, is often remembered as the pole star, serving as a fixed reference, but circumpolar stars include many stars, not just Polaris. The zodiac stars, in contrast, are simply stars within the zodiac constellations and aren’t defined by this circular motion.