Polaris is not exactly at the point in the sky through which the axis of the Earth passes as seen from the ground. It is located nearly one degree away in fact. Here is an image showing the field 15 arcminute by 15 arcminute square field near the North Pole, and as you can see there are many faint stars that are even closer to the pole ( epoch 2000) than Polaris which is out of the field. These stars are too faint to be seen without a pair of good binoculars or a telescope. The field is about 1/4 the size of the Full Moon and was obtained from the Palomar Digital Sky Survey.