If you set up a telescope somewhere along the equator can you see the North Star along with the furthest southern hemisphere constellation?
In: Planetary Science
Due to the curvature of the Earth, if you are at a high elevation at the Equator near the equinoxes (when the Earth’s rotation axis is aligned with the edge of the Sun’s light on the Earth), it is possible to see both Polaris and the Southern Cross just at the horizon. In theory, any point within the tropics (the places on Earth where it is possible for the Sun to be at zenith, meaning, perfectly “directly overhead” for a few days each year) can achieve this effect, briefly.
Most of the time, however, such visibility is limited at best or even impossible. E.g. if the best viewing time happens while the Sun is actually directly overhead, you aren’t seeing those stars. Or, as others have noted, hills and mountains may interrupt your view. This is one of the reasons why we built telescopes on Mauna Kea in Hawaii: it’s a tall mountain *surrounded by ocean,* meaning it is completely immune to the “hill/mountain got in the way” problem.
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