Pole star. ... In practice, the term pole star usually refers to Polaris, which is the current northern pole star, also known as the North Star. The south celestial pole lacks a bright star like Polaris to mark its position.
If you followed this axis out into space from the northern hemisphere on Earth, it would point toward a particular star in the sky. We call that star the "North Star" since it sits in the direction that the spin axis from the northern hemisphere of Earth points. At present, the star known as Polaris is the North Star.
