True north

True north is the direction that points toward the Earth's North Pole, where the planet's imaginary rotational axis meets the surface. This is different from magnetic north, which is where a compass points and changes over time because of Earth's magnetic field.

Because of how maps are made, true north can also look different from grid north, which is the direction the map lines go. But on a globe, lines of longitude always point to the true poles.

We can often find true north by looking at the star Polaris, also called the North Star. It stays close to the sky's north point, but because Earth's axis slowly wobbles over thousands of years, different stars become the closest over time. Today, Polaris is our best guide, but in the past, other stars like Thuban helped people find their way.