I’m revising my celestial navigation theory.
I can’t but notice that these online teachers look nothing like my old RYA instructor. I’m glad to see so many young women proficient in these old skills, but I worry they’ll catch a chill.

#sailing #CelestialNavigation

Tell #time at #night during the Golden Age of #Piracy?

Of course, just consult your #nocturnal #star dial.

You'll also need to find #Polaris & #UrsaMajor or #UrsaMinor.

#celestialnavigation #talklikeapirate #timekeeping #stargazing #instrumentation #astronomy #histsci #constellations #science #sailing

photograph of standard wooden nocturnal for use with Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, c. 17th century. Courtesy National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London (CC-BY-NC-ND)

Celestial navigation of a native moth

During their annual 1,000-kilometre journey to cool inland caves the Bogong moths have to rest in human hubs. There they get vacuumed and sprayed as pests with pesticides or just squashed by 'progress'. Few of the endangered species make it after their round-the-world journey to return home to Australia’s highest mountain range.

"Our results suggest that Bogong moths use stellar cues and the Earth’s magnetic field to create a robust compass system for long-distance nocturnal navigation towards a specific destination."
>>
Bogong moths use a stellar compass for long-distance navigation at night
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09135-3
#insects #Bogong #moths #CelestialNavigation #compass #AgrotisInfusa #MagneticField #MilkyWay #EndangeredSpecies #biodiversity

Same ship, different sea
Celestial navigation will take us where she needs to go

#astronomy #celestialnavigation #stargazing

Sextant Reflections by Henry Cordova: https://goodoldboat.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/50-53_GOB97_JA97_Sextant.pdf

(via Centauri Dreams)

#celestialNavigation

"Each spring, billions of Bogong moths (Agrotis infusa) migrate hundreds of kilometres south to the Australian Alps, guided by the austral night sky. The discovery that they can find their way using only the stars — reported in an 18 June Nature paper — makes this moth the first invertebrate to be observed using celestial navigation for long-distance journeys."

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01935-x

#Moths #Nature #Migrations #Bogong #Australia #Navigation #CelestialNavigation

No doubt delayed by the postal strike, but I’m glad to finally have my hands on the 2025 edition of the Guide to the US Navy - complete with my piece on recent use of celestial navigation techniques by the crews of US Navy warships, and specifically about a recent Atlantic transit by the USS Porter. I wonder what other aspects of modern life will require analog alternatives when our digital solutions fail us? #warships #usnavy #writing #celestialnavigation

celestial navigation has been on my to do list for years. #AI and #ComputerVision beat me to it: https://www.popsci.com/technology/drone-star-navigation/

#celestialnavigation #GPS #sailing #drones

Navigating the high seas means precision is everything! 🌊 So, I created a Python script to filter my sextant readings on my #YachtmasterOcean passage from the Azores to Fernando de Noronha 🧭✨ Say goodbye to outliers and hello to a clean average! Now I can trust my stars (and my code) just a little bit more. Check it out here: https://github.com/kevinveenbirkenbach/sextant-averager #CelestialNavigation #Python #Sextant #OceanPassage #Sailing #Navigation #Yachtmaster

🚢 Ahoy! I just launched nautical-waypoint-relative-calcs 🧭🌊 A handy tool for turning waypoints & timestamps into accurate course, distance, & speed (in knots!). Built this to help me place my estimated position for #CelestialNavigation on my #Yachtmaster Ocean Passage due to...well, my logbook's “creative” logging 📝. If you’re navigating without speed logs, check it out! ⚓️

🔗 https://github.com/kevinveenbirkenbach/nautical-waypoint-relative-calcs/

#SailingLife #OpenSource #Python #Nautical #Navigation #Sailing #CelestialNavigation

"When True Altitude 🌊 dips low beneath the Observed sky ☁️,
The Intercept whispers, 'Toward we fly' ✨.
But when True Altitude ⛰️ rises, towering high,
The Intercept calls, 'Away we must lie' 🌬️." - https://chatgpt.com/share/6719a349-2e48-800f-b0e8-11649b4a971b

#CelestialNavigation #TrueAltitude #SextantSkills #SailingLife #NavigatorLife #OceanAdventures #SeafarerWisdom #Intercept #SailingPoetry #MaritimeMagic #SailingCommunity #NauticalKnowledge

#CelestialNavigation in the "Golden Age of #Piracy": find the #Sun altitude using back-staff or Davis quadrant and protect your eyes

#navigation #astronomy #talklikeapirate #instrument #histsci #sailor

back-staff, c. 1711 photograph courtesy The Mariners' Museum, Peter Ifland Collection (1998.69.151)

Made port safely despite fog.
Have sextant. Will travel.

#celestialnavigation

A first glimpse of the ship down a crowded side street promises boundless sea and unlimited sky.

#celestialnavigation

Those who have cleared the lunar distance know what time it is.

#nerdjoke #celestialnavigation

Brought my #sextant to #FortMcHenry for some #celestialnavigation. Got my latitude within ~3km and longitude with ~18km. The latter would have been better, but I was using my cyclecomputer for a timepiece, and it doesn't report seconds.

I also sighted the Key Bridge while I was out there, got my distance within 1%. Math rules.

#cycling #biketooter #navigation

STAR TRACKERS: TELLING UP FROM DOWN IN ANY SPACE

https://hackaday.com/2020/04/02/star-trackers-telling-up-from-down-in-any-space/
#CelestialNavigation #Navigation #Astrogation