6 Ways To Navigate By The Stars With Easy

How To Navigate By The Stars - Before GPS, before the compass, your main means of orientation was to orient yourself by the stars. Although today's technology makes orientation easier, learning to navigate by the stars is still fun. You can find north, south, east, or west by learning a few stars and constellations, or you can just pick a star and follow its movements.

• Finding the North Star (Northern Hemisphere)

Look for Polaris, the North Star. Polaris is the brightest star in the constellation Lesser Bears, the Little Bear. It can be found in the bear's tail. (The ancient Greeks and many other peoples viewed bears as having long tails.) The star is called Polaris because it appears within one degree of the celestial north pole and therefore appears stationary in the night sky.

Since Ursa Minor's seven stars now look like a small water dipper, most people refer to Ursa Minor as the Little Dipper and not the Little Bear.

Use pointer stars to help you find the north star. Though Polaris is visible in northern skies from most locations north of the equator, it can be difficult to spot unless you know exactly what you're looking for. You can use stars in other constellations to point the way to Polaris.

The most commonly used pointer stars are Merak and Dubhe, the two stars on the rim of the Big Dipper opposite its handle. If you follow these stars towards the mouth of the Big Dipper, you can find Polaris. Traveling five times the Merak Dubhe distance from Dubhe puts you within three degrees of Polaris. When Polaris is cloudy, you still know where it is.

At nighttime when the Big Dipper is below the horizon, such as the early fall hours, you can use a different method. Find the Great Square of Pegasus. Measure the distance from Alpheratz (visually part of Pegasus but actually part of the constellation Andromeda) to Caph, the star at the extreme right of the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia. Measure another of these distances in accordance with Alphaheratz and Caph. You will be less than three degrees from Polaris. And like the previous method, you don't need to see Polaris.

• Find latitude (Northern Hemisphere)

Locate Polaris. Use one of the pointer star methods to help you.

Determine the angle in degrees between the position of Polaris and the northern horizon. The most accurate way to do this is with a quarter circle or sextant, which allows you to read the angle by its curved section. This angular measure corresponds to your degree of latitude north of the equator.

If you don't have a quadrant or sextant, you can approximate the angle by reaching your fist toward the horizon and stacking your fists hand over hand until you reach North Star. Your outstretched fist is about a 10 degree square.

• Find South (Northern Hemisphere)

Look for the constellation Orion. The constellation of Orion, the hunter, resembles a curved hourglass. The stars Betelgeuse and Bellatrix represent his shoulders; the stars Saiph and Rigel represent his knees (or feet). The three stars in the center, Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, represent Orion's belt.

In the northern hemisphere, Orion is primarily visible in winter and early spring, but can be seen late at night in fall or before sunrise in summer.

Find Orion's Sword if you can. Look for a moderately bright, one faint, and one fuzzy star hanging down from Alnilam, the middle star in Orion's belt. This represents Orion's sword pointing south.

The fuzzy "star" is actually the Great Nebula of Orion, an interstellar nursery where new stars are formed.

• Find South (Southern Hemisphere)

Look for Crux, the Southern Cross. While there is a star near the south celestial pole, Sigma Octantis, it's too faint to help you much in finding the south. Instead, look for the bright constellation Crux, the Southern Cross, made up of four stars that form the ends of the pole and crosspiece of the cross.

The Southern Cross is such an important constellation that it features on the flags of Australia and New Zealand. However, not particularly large. (It is only one degree longer than the distance between the Pointer stars in the Big Dipper.) This is what makes the Pointer stars (Rigel Kentaurus and Hadar) so important. They keep you from pouncing on the False Cross, which is nearby and just a little bit bigger.

Draw a line through the long axis of the cross. The point along this line, about four and a half times the length of the longitudinal axis, lies directly over south.

(optional) Improve your accuracy by finding the two "pointers" to the southern cross and drawing a line through them. Then take a line perpendicular from the center of it and extend it to intersect with the line drawn from the Southern Cross. Where they intersect is directly over the south.

If you draw a line through the two stars of the crosspiece, you will point to the star Alpha Centauri, which is the closest star to Earth after the Sun.

• Search east or west (celestial equator)

Look for the constellation Orion. As previously mentioned, the constellation's torso looks something like a curved hourglass. Then look for the star on the far right of Orion's belt. This star, Mintaka, rises and sets within one degree of east or west.

• Finding direction by following the position of a star (everywhere)

Drive 2 stakes into the ground. The stakes should be approximately 1 yard (91 cm) apart.

Choose any star you see in the night sky. You can use any star for this, although you'll probably want to pick one of the brighter stars.

Align the star with the tops of both stakes.

Wait for the star to move out of the bet position. The rotation of the earth from west to east causes the stars in the sky to rotate from east to west as a whole. The direction the star has moved relative to its original position when you saw it tells you which direction you are looking.

When the star has risen, you face east.

When the star has set you face west.

When the star has moved to the left, face north.

When the star has moved to the right, face south.