In addition to Polaris, the two stars at the front of the Little Dipper's bowl are usually quite easy to identify. These stars have long been referred to as the Guardians of the Pole because they appear to march around Polaris like sentries. Columbus mentioned them in the log of his famous journey across the ocean, and many other navigators have found them useful in measuring the time of night and their place upon the sea.

The brightest guardian is Kochab, a second magnitude star with an orange hue. The other guardian goes by an old Arabian name, Pherkad—the Dim One of the Two Calves—and at third magnitude, Pherkad is indeed dimmer than Kochab. The two other stars that complete the bowl of the Little Dipper are of fourth and fifth magnitude and so push the limits of what most people can see, even with relatively minor light pollution.

Thus, the bowl of the Little Dipper, which is visible at any hour on any night of the year from most locations in the Northern Hemisphere, serves as a good indicator of just how dark and clear the night sky really is. For example, if you can readily see all four stars in the bowl, you've got yourself a good to excellent sky.

Unfortunately, thanks to the spread of light pollution in recent years, usually only the Guardians are visible from most city and suburban sites, meaning the quality of the sky would rank fair to poor.