sky dome
One way you can think of the night sky is as a dome full of stars that spans the horizon in all directions and covers the entire world. From our perspective on Earth, the dome seems to turn slowly overhead. If you imagine standing outside the dome, looking in at the Earth, the dome would look kind of like a globe.
Astronomers use the idea of the celestial globe to help map the night sky. The celestial globe works the same way regular globes do. The big difference is that Earth is in the middle and the stars and constellations are drawn on the surface of the globe.
Astronomers use imaginary lines to divide the celestial globe. There is a Celestial Equator that makes a ring around the regular Equator. The celestial north pole is above the north pole, and the celestial south pole is above the south pole.
Astronomers use the idea of the celestial globe to help map the night sky. The celestial globe works the same way regular globes do. The big difference is that Earth is in the middle and the stars and constellations are drawn on the surface of the globe.
Astronomers use imaginary lines to divide the celestial globe. There is a Celestial Equator that makes a ring around the regular Equator. The celestial north pole is above the north pole, and the celestial south pole is above the south pole.
Remember, the celestial globe is imaginary. There is no sky dome, and there really is no sky either. Above the Earth and all around there are millions of billions (and more) miles of space. And there can be millions of miles between stars in constellations. But stars move much more slowly than the Earth does.
The next video shows a different perspective: the stars stay still while the camera moves.
When watching the sky, it's easy to forget that we're the ones moving.