How Celestial Navigation Works

Description

My class on navigating by the stars from a recent outing; hope you enjoy it and learn something from it.

Thanks!

Tags: bushcraft,woodcraft,nsv,navigation,star,celestial,constellation,bif,dipper,small,bear,ursa,major,minor,cassiopea,survival,skill,skills,primitive,archaic,aboriginal,first,natino,nations,sky,space,lurd,technique,technology,hiking,moon,polaris,north,southern,cross,solo,gathering,overnight,class,instruction,masterclass

Video Transcription

[Music]

I'm gonna talk about several different aspects of it one of the fishing we'll talk about is the North Star Polaris now we have a angle on our plan at all times and so plan X as this angle and it's rotating goes to the east tumbling now the North Star situated so right on our axis where only space codes have no starts so far away that it seems like we're always facing at it preferably actually we have a wobble we actually wobble a little bit it's like every 12 thousand years I think it is it moves and the North Star is a perfect line up with north so it changes a little bit anyways that's why the North Star never moves in the sky it's the only star that doesn't move in the sky and it's line up with our axis that's why because we're spinning all the time everything else is moving because of it that's right on our like you know well like rod going right through far away is play you know I don't know it's crazy how far away it is and that it lines up with our axis parish that really is life of the infinite number of points that our axis lines up to actually our universe there's that one point ya know if you look back in the in the records there was another star that was known to be the North Star but it wasn't Polaris there's another star near it and with the wobble and we were lined up with that one well I don't recall the name of it but 100% know it existed all right so that's why that doesn't work that doesn't move and all the others do that's why this works rather so here's Polaris in the sky all the other stars appear to be moving if you do a time-lapse of the camera they're like melt they just keep moving it's big like circle all the stars are sitting still and because because we're moving like this to the east while while we're doing that it appears that they're doing this is that's the same thing so look like they're moving not us because we're standing on we don't realize so they're doing this but we're the one movie not those stars technically each one of those stars is moving through it's a galaxy doing everything and it's doing its solar system etc just like we are but it's such a small you know amount of variable within the whole thing that we it's like you know we don't see stars move all right so that's why lured works what is learn oh you are B that's left up right and down now that is based on this right

and it was kind of clock but I'm sorry let's clockwise rather and then also matches north east south west movie pal you are heat your perfectly line up so if you are looking at a star and what you do is we do this on my first class you make a y stick you got a star take another stick and you sit down like you're sitting on the ground yeah we should put a blanket or something man whatever you just sit there and stare at it how foul later that things often to be in the same spot anymore it's gonna be like say over here now I'm gonna move up like two inches from where it was and that's up there now and you go to get lowered to make it psych do I think with two inches so if it moved two inches you're staring at East because up and East are this side of the stars moving that's normal now why does that work though which is the most important part dude all this mathematical jargon is irrelevant if you don't have an understanding of what's going on let's talk about that real quick to me that's more important and once I crack this I spent three years I think it was thinking about this virtually constantly trying to figure it out

no books talked about it nothing and finally practice this is why if I'm standing on the equator North is here South is down here I'm facing east right I'm going down and the whole time after I get past my my apex I'm moving down like this as I'm going around right this star I'm looking at appears to be going up there goes so I'm going around the planet as it goes right cuz I'm going like this same thing with West the opposite way I'm looking at a star right instead of going set it going up then go down so now Harry I'm looking at this and I'm going around the curve of the planet like this and it's like oh I can't see it anymore I went down below my horizon it's going down right because it you're you're turning towards the east and if you're looking north I should go well you're on your you're on the equator looking north is east is west and I'm doing this all right I'm going this way well if I'm looking at this it's like oh man look at it's going for really far left it's not I'm looking here it's over here now I'm moving not it but a little SEC it's going left

same thing with south and right exact opposite way

that's why Lord works it's our rotation that's all it is so if you look at a star and it moves you know what direction you're looking at Lu Rd clockwise around the cardinal directions north east south west tell you Artie so if it's less that's northeast well that's when they get to now exactly so now say it move say you ate 15 minutes whatever move like one inch off right well say you waited half and it's here that's not up but it's up and left and they're equal they're equal well if they're equal then you're equally north because you went left and because you went off the equally east so that's the case then you're looking at North East which is the best direction absolutely absolutely the best direction looking north east says anything that goes with it right so if I was looking and all Southwest have to move down to the right so here I'm spotting the star ends up here right there and now what's interesting is that it doesn't have to be a hundred percent perfect balance and all of that that's the case say it went it was here and it went let's the left one inch and up not one not not one inch to be equal but two inches so went double the distance up that it did left that means I'm leaning towards East so I'm actually right here now now why does that matter well it still northeast but I'm you know shying towards East this is why it matters what we can do is this now look in such shooting as myths from stars because you have a cardinal direction compass like that looking at north east south west which is El sorry which is zero 360 right 90 180 270 on my compass

it's all there is having boat numbers so now if I see a star and I'm looking at it and if it goes off only I'm looking at a ninety-degree asthma it's not putting numbers chili it's not like I'm reading to exist don't you what's the number all 52 degrees go BAM from a star thank you this is how you do it that's 90 degrees so just like I did before I'm looking at North East which is actually a degree as I can I can make bearings off of stars now now things are starting a little uninteresting right and so half of 45 is like 22.5 or the states 22 that's me leading towards the north

okay well that to happen is what we already said I have to look at this ask the goat will say two inches started here two inches off and one inch to the left so it'll be here two and one so I'm leaning close the left on W I'll have to the opposite right my stars here I go left two inches and up one inch in the sky so now I'm doing I'm looking a 22 degree azimuth you can figure out every single number you can possibly get by looking at stars and so what we do in my first class is everybody takes turns looking at a star what we do is we stand behind them and we shoot announcements that star right a little man in the box okay that's 22 degrees well whatever it is you know 45 plus 22 is 67 degrees so I'm looking at it you know 67 degrees and so I already know what it really is and so and he's looking at a star and I don't know what it is my buddy knows what it is we don't say anything but the compass is away now we work on ours he comes around he spots off he knows what it is somebody else does the same thing to two eyes on it after a half-hour I'm like all right bro what eyes are we looking at you know you never look on compass on your own you know I've had people be like 53 degrees how close am I I'll might get 52 degrees like you just shot an azimuth down to a single degree with a star flying in the sky right now out on that field and I turn upon them it's totally doable it's totally easy it's totally totally repeatable and it makes sense

so when you get up with the rotation of the earth matches up with the cardinal directions and the numbers we all know 9 18 27 36 I mean if you know you're looking east you know you're looking at at 90-degree asthma's really is this there's no magic to it we don't know this well if I'm looking at a star there it is so celestial navigation you can just look at a star and get a broad sense or what were you looking or you can you can make it up shooting in azmuth and you actually know that exact number just by knowing your compass the reason why it works because our rotation and the North Star is matched up at all times that's why everything works together you can get the lured directions right that's why you can start getting that stuff because it all kind of starts making sense now I don't think we need to talk about using groups of stars not a single one yeah this would be the last name so now we're looking at Polaris the North Star it's not the brightest star some people make that mistake the Tatars are not the brightest star the brightest stars aren't stars penis well those like the Box star the brightest star can be Mars and Venus too depending on like the water yeah okay so now how do I find Polaris if I just want to find Polaris there's a whole nother thing we can do oh yeah there's a constellation called Ursa Major Big Bear you got the Big Dipper man and so if you follow these outside ones you points the Pyrus if you follow the outside of what little the front of the lip there you have the lip of the of the pot hmm there it is it's super easy to do nice clear night you can see it just follow up there they have another one I may have another one for the southern hemisphere - yeah that's something probably the Southern Cross yeah there's more to it than this thing you see the Southern Cross the dollars time if you happen to be able to see or some minor little bear Little Dipper it's actually Polaris is the last one on its handle and it's something like

Polaris Polaris is the last the last $1 that's Polaris right here on the little bit oh yeah first of my neck where some minor and what it does is it creates a curve I can follow that curve they'll point you right to the handle Ursa Major usually this is much more a much dimmer much I've only seen this really clear a couple times not easy to see you have to be in Maine Canada yeah has to be real clean there's a lot of light pollution and I hear it now it's another one roughly the opposite side of the Big Dipper

over here that she's slightly off there's one that looks something like this of Cassiopeia now if you line up Cassiopeia if you if you take this and realize that it kind of makes a perpendicular line right there you can make a line and that one comes across to 90 degrees it could be like a triangle with this right basically to me it's like a bow and arrow so you have this here I have that there so you look at those two and you just go almost straight out of this one from those and it leads right to Polaris [Music]

you