A curious question..

[Wiccan_Child]

Q: I realize that as I spent some of my childhood on the countryside in Norway with people extremely fond of roughing it and being in the scouts then later the army it may be natural for me in my situation, but.... Isn't this something everyone learns at some point? Rough stellar navigation I mean.

Hah, I wish we had that in the UK! I used to be in the scouts, so we did a bit of it, but nothing that would be actually useful.

As well as a couple of other signs - moss on trees,

If you mean the thing about moss only growing on the south side of trees, that's an urban legend

 

[TheReasoner]

Hah, I wish we had that in the UK! I used to be in the scouts, so we did a bit of it, but nothing that would be actually useful.


If you mean the thing about moss only growing on the south side of trees, that's an urban legend

Didn't stop our teacher from teaching it

I could misremember, it's been about 20 years. But I don't think so.

 

[Lillen]

I been taught that there are more leaves on the side of the tree poitning to south.

 

[Lillen]

As for stellar navigation It is impossible to recognize the point of the compass by looking at the stars. Remeber the earth circle around the sun and around its own axis, making the starsky look diffrently each day.

Stellar navagiation only works in a flat earth and is the center of the universe...

 

[Radagast]

As for stellar navigation It is impossible to recognize the point of the compass by looking at the stars. Remeber the earth circle around the sun and around its own axis, making the starsky look diffrently each day.

Here is a time lapse photograph of the northern stars. Notice the fixed point -- that's the north celestial pole (and the star Polaris sits more or less on top of it). Draw a line from the north celestial pole down to the horizon, and that's north.

It works, dude, it works.

 

[Radagast]

Here's an interesting book, by the way: Finding Your Way Without Map Or Compass (on Google Books and Amazon). It includes a few chapters on navigation at sea.

 

[Lillen]

LOL... that only works if earth is the center of the universe...

 

[Wiccan_Child]

LOL... that only works if earth is the center of the universe...

No, no it doesn't. The Earth spins, so the stars appear to move around the axis of rotation. They trace circles around the axis of rotation, so that central point effectively hangs over the North Pole.

What makes you think this has anything to do with the Earth being or not being the centre of the universe?

 

[Lillen]

Ok my bad, but test for yourself. - Atleast the sun needs to be to center of the universe by that picture, because the stars spin along with the earth when following that picture, or!!?

 

[Wiccan_Child]

Ok my bad, but test for yourself. - Atleast the sun needs to be to center of the universe by that picture, because the stars spin along with the earth when following that picture, or!!?

Nope. The Earth spins, and this makes the stars appear to move. What part of this has to do with the Sun, or something being the centre of the universe? The orbit of the Earth doesn't affect the position of the stars much, though careful observation does demonstrate stellar parallax.

 

[Lillen]

As i been taught, you take one star, a star that says it will take you to heaven, let that be the pointer during day, and follow that star. You repeat this each night until you've reached heaven. You avoid - as we been taught - the moon if it is visible during daytime, because this is the bright and morningstar, or lucifer. In ancint time this was adressed as mercury. EDIT; Venus not mercury as I was corrected!

Thats how i do it...

 

[Lillen]

Hence, New Jersualem. Hence "America is heaven" or "was" if you prefer!!

Simply, you sail on the stars when using stellar navigation...

Hence "navigate by stars"

 

[Radagast]

As i been taught, you take one star, a star that says it will take you to heaven, let that be the pointer during day, and follow that star. You repeat this each night until you've reached heaven. You avoid - as we been taught - the moon if it is visible during daytime, because this is the bright and morningstar, or lucifer. In ancint time this was adressed as mercury.

I don't have the time to list all the things that are wrong in that short paragraph, but Venus (the bright morning/evening star), Mercury, and the Moon are 3 different things.

 

[Tiberius]

As i been taught, you take one star, a star that says it will take you to heaven, let that be the pointer during day, and follow that star. You repeat this each night until you've reached heaven. You avoid - as we been taught - the moon if it is visible during daytime, because this is the bright and morningstar, or lucifer. In ancint time this was adressed as mercury.

Thats how i do it...

Um...

They're celestial objects. They have no magical or supernatural properties...

 

[TheReasoner]

As i been taught, you take one star, a star that says it will take you to heaven, let that be the pointer during day, and follow that star. You repeat this each night until you've reached heaven. You avoid - as we been taught - the moon if it is visible during daytime, because this is the bright and morningstar, or lucifer. In ancint time this was adressed as mercury.

Thats how i do it...

If a star speaks to you, you need to rush off to hospital immediately. Something is wrong with you if you hear stars speak. Some mushrooms and drugs or chemicals and poisons could be responsible, a tumor in the right place might do it. Or you might have a psychological illness of some sort.

Either way, off to the hospital you ought to go. If it was me I would get help quickly, because hallucinations can make you do stupid things. Just... Don't drive there yourself. Get a taxi, a (sober) friend or an ambulance to do that job.

 

[Lillen]

If a star speaks to you, you need to rush off to hospital immediately

I don't only need to go to the hospital immediatly i also need to wonder how ancient wise men from east did it...

Sorry venus not mercury...

And for the reply in the middle i don't even need to adress. Are you saying that ancent wise men from east had the same knowledge as we have now. I tell you, they believe the earth was the center of the universe and flat. Moreover they used alchemy, astrology and God's to explain the worlds. How often haven't i heard that we are more enlightened these days? Yet during ancient up to renessance they could actually discover new territory and in the latter, a whole new continent... No they did not have the same ideas back then... And refining gold has been knowned since exodos past tense...

Now once again, give it a try...

 

[Lillen]

I say. give it a try. Using modern world view it is only possible to navigate by star if you have the calendear of which stars visible during that specific time of year with you. Moreover you need to know were you starting point is!! Otherwise it is impossible, i tell you 'IMPOSSIBLE'.

By the way, sailing on the stars sound much cooler... atleast in my ears!

 

[Lillen]

Back to the point. With out knowing were to go it is impossible to navigate to a certain place using your way. You need luck to find that place. Because 'obiously' you don't know were you are going...

 

[Elendur]

Back to the point. With out knowing were to go it is impossible to navigate to a certain place using your way. You need luck to find that place. Because 'obiously' you don't know were you are going...

It's not impossible. How have we expanded over the earth if we can't navigate to places we don't know of?

 

[TLK Valentine]

It's not impossible. How have we expanded over the earth if we can't navigate to places we don't know of?

Lillen is missing the excruciatingly obvious -- navigating to places we don't know of (yet) is called "exploration."

We go to places we don't know, and once we get there, we know them.