Natural Nav

[tristgo]

Hi,

Thought I'd introduce myself and lob a question out there.

I'm Tristan. I research and teach natural navigation, that is finding your way using nature, which includes the sun, stars and moon (but not usually the planets). My astronomy is mainly hands-free.

As you would expect I do know most of the standard methods of orientation, ie. a lot of ways to find Polaris, the south celestial pole and a few ways to find the celestial equator, but...

I wondered if anyone out there had any original or neat tricks for finding N/S/E/W by looking to the heavens (or elsewhere for that matter). If you're not sure if it is original or neat, lob it out there anyway, I may have come across it, but others may not.

thanks,

Tristan

[timetraveller]

Hiya Tristan

This one is not Astronomical persay but it does work which is looking on tree trunks for the growth of lichens and moss which grow on the north side of tree trunks or sometimes west depending on species.

Or looking at the way tree branches naturally lean towards the southwest ,which i believe in England is predominantly the direction of the prevailing winds.

If the branches are not visible due to leafage then the surface roots of big trees, which grow predominantly on the opposite side ( north east ) to anchor the trees against wind pressure. And while still on trees, on some trees like willows and Horse Chesnut the actual bark, is lighter in colour on the south side of trees due to bleaching effects.

l think most of the Astronomical ones are pretty much known using Ursa major/minor and Polaris to find north or using the whole night sky to watch the varying non circumpolar objects slowly rise from the east reching their zenith in the south and then setting in the west and of course the rising and setting sun. I know there are lots of others like birds etc and river routes which in England are predominantly East /west or west to East depending on which side of the country your on but i will leave those to other more knowledgeable folk regards Pete

[Tiny]

I was taught a trick years ago. If you look at the horizon then, without moving your head, look up you are looking around 45 degrees above the horizon. As Polaris is a bit above that in some pretty obvious constellations (as seen from the UK) this means it is easy to find Polaris and hence north.

Other helps are the position of the milky way if you know where it is at the time of year which gives an idea of where north, south east and west are.

Of course once you know the constellations finding North is easy but what I find totally bemuses people is to say Polaris is there (pointing) in the day time as they seem to think it switches off when the sun comes out!

[TheThing]

Um, sun rises in the east and sets in the west?

[kniclander]

if you can find a copy of "Astronomy" by Fred Hoyle, the beginning is all about all sorts of things you can find out with basically a stick and a piece of string.

ps your work/research sounds interesting

[Terry]

I seem to remeber if you point the hour finger of your watch towards the direction of the sun and take the angle halway between that and 12 on your watch this will point to the south. Obviously you would need to take into account for BST.

Terry

[George]

Um, sun rises in the east and sets in the west?

That depends on the time of the year ie seasonal change.

However the sun is always due south within 4 or 5 minutes of noon all the year round, a simple stick and watch the shadow prove this

[Barry W]

Here's a link to a UTube video on survivalist celestial navigation tricks.

I'm a sailor and I'm trying to recall some of the old tricks we used. You already know about Polaris. That's the North pointer on any natural compass rose. and you can get your basic bearing from there any time it's visible. The Planets were always a lot tougher for navigation. because of their close orbits in relatoin to the stars, they are not on produced starglobes or planespheres. There are some tricks, but I can't recall them off the top of my head. They do have regular cycles (obviously) and with preplanning, can be used.

We also used a quick trick for the stars. Around evening Twilight the first stars seen are always to the east as the skies darked there first. This may be your first indication even before you can see Polaris and can provide you with general direction. It will also give you an indication of which way to look for Polaris. Morning Twilight is the opposite. the darker sky and visible stars will be to the west.

I'll rack my brain and pass on a few more as they come to me. (This is actually fun now - I recall how terrified we used to get when the Captain ordered all of the NavAids turned off and set us loose to find our way with the skies. A bit of a lost art, unfortunately!)

One of the best examples I was ever taught was the history of the Polynesians precision navigation (no instruments - just their eyes!) of the Pacific long before the Europeans thought beyond the flat earth theory. Research into their exploits may give you some ideas as well.

Cheers,

Barry

[Barry W]

Sorry,

I for got the link I originally promised.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Pw9eauofQ

Barry

[Starjumper]

Hi Barry,

Great little link.

John

[proflight2000]

There is of course the old trick of placing a stick in the ground and at 12 noon (if the sun is out) it will cast a shadow through the stick onto the ground, the shadow line will point north. (ish)

[tristgo]

Thanks for all the suggestions and the link.

I keep trying to capture night sky views to post on my blog, but although I've got a decent SLR camera, I haven't yet got the skills to do the sky justice. I'll keep chipping away.

[AlexG]

I orientate east by the rising of the stars and planets and west by their setting.

I also use crescent moon - lit by the setting sun, so west, in evening and early night. Lit by rising sun in early morning, so east.

AG

[Peter Piper]

Hi, gotta join in.

looking north (ish) . Watch the position of any star rising against a fairly level horizon and then watch the position of the same star setting against the same horizon: the midway point between these is precisely North. I understand that this is the way that the ancient Egyptians oriented the pyramids. They took it further by using water as a precise horizontal level. I read this in the 1960s so it it could be complete ballcocks.

Goodnight and regards

PP