Circumpolar stars are those stars which are located near the poles of the celestial sphere. As the Earth rotates, the sky appears to rotate; and most stars will be hidden below the horizon at some point in their circular paths. The circumpolar stars, being very near the axis of rotation, describe very small circles; to an observer who is far enough away from the equator that the pole is a reasonable distance above the horizon, the stars will neither rise nor set, but circle round some fixed point - dependent on the observer's latitude - above the horizon. An example is Polaris.