What is Celestial Navigation?
Celestial navigation is a form of navigation which involves using the known locations of celestial bodies to determine one’s own location on Earth. This navigational technique has been used for thousands of years, and only really fell out of vogue in the late 20th century, when more accurate navigational methods began to be developed. Instruction in celestial navigation continues to be offered in some regions of the world, primarily as a point of historical interest.
Celestial navigation is a form of navigation which involves using the known locations of celestial bodies to determine one’s own location on Earth. This navigational technique has been used for thousands of years, and only really fell out of vogue in the late 20th century, when more accurate navigational methods began to be developed. Instruction in celestial navigation continues to be offered in some regions of the world, primarily as a point of historical interest. When people navigate in an area without known landmarks, such as the middle of the ocean, they have no way of knowing where they are simply by looking around them. Celestial navigation resolves this problem, by allowing navigators to take several sightings of celestial bodies, and use information from these sightings to determine where they are relative to these objects, and therefore where they are on Earth.
