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How to Find Direction by Stars

On a clear night sky the vast number of stars can intimidate many people from using them as directional guides even though they have been used for navigation for thousands of years. In today's world of GPS monitoring systems and compasses, many of us never need to learn this essential survival skill. Here is the best way to find direction by the stars.

Things You'll Need

  • Straight 3 meter long stick
  • Two stones
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Instructions

  1. Celestial Navigation

    • 1

      Find directions by using the sun as a reference. The Sun always rises above the horizon in the east and sets in the west. This is extremely helpful in determining direction, especially when traveling during the daytime, but seasonal differences must be taken into account to determine true east and west. To do this, find a stick about three feet long and place it into a flat piece of ground so that it is standing straight up and casting a shadow. Use a stone or some other marker to record where the tip of the shadow is cast. Wait fifteen to thirty more minutes and mark where the shadow has moved. The first mark will be West and the second mark will be east. This will work any where on earth that the sun casts a shadow.

    • 2

      Navigating by night is done by locating specific stars based on their relationship to celestial bodies. Polaris, or the north star is always visible under clear atmospheric conditions and is found at in the handle of the Small Dipper constellation. The Big Dipper's outside lip points directly at the North Star. The five star constellation Cassiopeia is located to the left of the North Star. The middle star in the constellation points directly towards Polaris.

    • 3

      Find the south by looking for the Southern Cross constellation as a reference. The constellation is easy to confuse with the False Cross, which is located to the right of the true Southern Cross. To verify if the constellation is legitimate, there should also be two bright stars nearby and to the left. True south is found by taking the mid-points between the Southern Cross and it's neighbor to the left and drawing imaginary lines that meet down to the horizon.


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