Why Polaris isn't listed?

[c_davidson]

Rumata,

I can't exactly answer your question.  However, while Polaris is easily found in the sky, Pub. 249 Vol 1 includes the Polaris tables 6 & 7 on page 353 (the last page of tha volume).

The Air Almanac also includes the Polaris tables and can be found here-

Polaris- Correction for (Q) (2017)

I think that version is included on the TheNauticalAlmanac.com since it's the most up to date version though the one found in Pub. 249 Vol. 1 will not yield a significantly different result.

Polaris is typically used just to determine latitude.  Using the Polaris Tables 6 & 7 only require LHA ♈ (Aries) and not the additional SHA of Polaris to solve for latitude.  Thus, you can determine latitude quickly using Tables 6 & 7 than the lengthy process of using Polaris's SHA and drawing an LOP.

While Polaris is a useful, my guess it's not listed in the Pub. 249 Vol. 1 stars as it's not very bright.  But there could be other considerations that I'm not familiar with.

The Nautical Almanacs found on TheNauticalAlmanac.com provide Polaris's SHA & DEC for each year on the daily pages.

You can get the procedure to determine latitude using Polaris here- Determine Latitude using Polaris

Polaris also has the Latin name of a Ursae Minoris

You can also get the principle navigational stars SHA & DEC from the Air Almanac here-

SHA & DEC of stars

Clen