The North Star is the most important navigation star because its position in the sky is almost exactly aligned (within a few degrees) with the Earth’s axis of rotation. This means that it doesn’t matter where you are on Earth (as long as you are in the Northern Hemisphere); if you are looking at the North Star, you are looking at the North. Finding the North Star is an incredibly useful and simple night navigation technique that has helped everyone from the Egyptians to the Vikings find their way in the open ocean.