Patrice Nightingale, Age 9, Of Canadaigua, N.Y., for her question:

Does the compass point south below the equator?

Wherever it is, the magnetic compass points out both the north and the south direction. It is a slender needle which is a straight line. If one end of a straight line points due north, then the opposite end must be pointing due south.

Nothing at all happens to change this fact when a magnetic compass crosses the equator. One end of the magnetic needle stilt points to the earth's north magnetic pole; the opposite end still points to the earth's south magnetic pole.