A Path North

Explanation: What happens if you keep going north? The direction north on the Earth , the place on your horizon below the northern spin pole of the Earth -- around which other stars appear to slowly swirl , will remain the same. This spin-pole-of-the-north will never move from its fixed location on the sky -- night or day -- and its height will always match your latitude . The further north you go, the higher the north spin pole will appear. Eventually, if you can reach the Earth's North Pole , the stars will circle a point directly over your head. Pictured, a four-hour long stack of images shows stars trailing in circles around this north celestial pole . The bright star near the north celestial pole is Polari s, known as the North Star. The bright path was created by the astrophotographer's headlamp as he zigzagged up a hill just over a week ago in Lower Saxony , Germany . The astrophotographer can be seen, at times, in shadow. Actually, the Earth has two spin poles -- and much the same would happen if you started below the Earth's equator and went south .