Is there a South Pole Star?

The Big Dipper swings around with two bright stars always pointing to Polaris, the bright beacon which hangs above the North Pole. But south of the equator, there is no such starry sign post to point out the directions. No star hangs above the South Pole. The nearest signpost is the Southern Cross, a smallish constellation of four stars.

Two stars of the Southern Cross point towards a patch of empty sky about as far away as Polaris is from the Big Dipper. It takes an expert navigator to calculate the exact position of the celestial south pole from this makeshift sign post.