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The star Polaris is commonly known as the Northern Star because it always points North. This being said is there a South star that always points south?

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There is a "South Star" called Sigma Octanis located in the constellation Octans, but it is so dim that virtually nobody calls it the south star.

Just another side note: Polaris doesn't always point North. The reason is that our Earth has a precession effect which make the North pole circulate around the sky. This picture illustrates my point.

Picture showing the precession effect and the changing of the pole star.

EDIT: Just to clarify, the picture is showing the circulation of the south celestial pole around the south ecliptic pole.

EDIT2 : References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_star#mediaviewer/File:Precession_S.gif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_star

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