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I did a little exercise the other night when I was asked if we have ever had a southern pole star. I ran Starry night backwards and noted the stars and their angular seperation from the SCP over the previous 26000 years (one cycle of precession). I was surprised to see that the SMC was at one stage almost at the SCP. This is the list I came up with.
Star - mag- Ang Sep from pole - year.
alpha Hyd - mag 2.8 - 2 deg - 3000 BC
nu Pup - mag 3.1 - 1 deg 40' - 12250 BC
sigma Pup - mag 3.25 - 0 deg 5' - 14000 BC Within the parameters I chose this star came closest.
gamma Vel - mag 1.75 - 0 deg 15' - 15300 BC Suhail al Muhlif would have been the most clearly visible star for a Southern Pole Star
delta Vel - mag 1.9 - 1 deg 50' - 16750 BC
iota Car - mag 2.18 - 1 deg 30' - 18000 BC Aspidiske
You could do the same processes forwards in time. It would be interesting to see if the same stars come up or if Starry Nights take into account the proper motion of the stars (unlikely as proper motion isn't known for many stars)
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