astronomy

This may seem like a dumb question, but would the typical lower-class Irishman in the Gilded Age be educated enough to know the actual name of the north star (Polaris) or would he merely refer to it as the 'North Star?' He is a sailor/fisherman whose ancestors could possibly have had to know...

Was poking through a 1912 Almanac and newspaper to find the following article of interest- this must have been visible from the deck: "One bright star in the firmament is partly eclipsed every two days, 20 hours and 50 minutes. It is Algol, the Demon Star, or the star that "winks". Algol is...