I have always been interested in this topic and wondered if there were any members who have some knowledge in the area. I did find this cool site...How to navigate using the Stars - The Natural Navigator
Ursa minor needs to be in the pic also. Although with the amount of light pollution at night most people can't see it anyway.
All ya need is a star compass, and good charts, and thats being fancy, realy only need a star compass.
http://geocenter.survey.ntua.gr/mai...ocumentation/american_practical_navigator.pdf Bowditch - that and a Naval almanac, sextant and a good watch & you are good to go.
Any time the Big Dipper is not visible, below your horizon, you can also use Cassiopeia, which is on the other side of Polaris from the Big Dipper. One or the other is always visible in a clear night sky.
It is in the OP, turning around Polaris. Not too useful for navigation, but helpful finding other indicators. @DKR A sextant is not too useful for land nav (but you know that) unless you can figure out a good artificial horizon. Bowditch is NOT a self teaching book, but if you can dredge thru it, that is essentially the complete knowledge of navigation, sea or land. For the average monkey with no particular interest in intercontinental sailing, dead reckoning on land will (normally) be more than sufficient with good maps, a good compass, and good boots.
if you want real accuracy you will need sight reduction tables.... https://msi.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SRTA/Pub249/Vol_2/Pub249Vol2.pdf Sight Reduction Tables for Astro Navigation. use these so you can take more accurate sights from multiple stars...... a must for use with sextants if accuracy is required... note these tables change on a daily basis... reduction tables are put out annually
I recall when I was young we had a wheel chart. I found one and you can print off the pdf & make your own. How to Make A Star Wheel and Observe the Night Sky | Sky & Telescope Links from the article: https://s22380.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/starwheel-sleeve1.pdf https://s22380.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/starwheel+disk.pdf This is great. Just print off and I think putting them on a thing cardboard would help. All one needs to do is locate North.
I'm interested as well, and would appreciate answers to these questions: Which are the "morning" stars? Why? Which are the "evening" stars? Why? If I'm north of the equator, can I find my lattitude by measuring the angle on the North Star? Is that all I need to do? How is the Southern Cross used for navigation? Is there a "southern" pole star? How much distance is a minute of longitude at the equator? A second? In other words, how accurate a clock do I need? If I listen to WWV or CHU for my time, does propagation delay affect the longitude measurement? How much? When did the old Degrees-minutes-seconds system turn into decimal degrees? Why? How long is "nautical" twilight? TIA. William Warren
