Stargazing Before Dawn

22 September 2010 by Tristan Gooley

Once more my pre-dawn ‘Batsense’ kicked in and I awoke before five with an urgent desire to go outside. It was not the pressure on my bladder, I do not think, but the idyllic conditions and night sky players that were beckoning me.

Orion and his sword were first to offer their greetings and then I noticed Jupiter still visible in the southwest. Sirius, Betelgeuse, Capella, the Plough and Polaris sketched out some order in the celestial sphere.

The moon was close to setting and was lighting up rows of fluffy cumulus clouds on their western edges. As time passed the clouds lost their bright white western edges, but gained pink and orange eastern ones. They moved sedately towards the northeast, signalling the start to a fine day. (Photo to the right was taken a few minutes ago.)

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Mars in the East

26 January 2010 by Tristan Gooley

mars in the eastern skyFor much of the UK, tonight promises to be a good night for some stargazing. With a bit of luck the only clouds for many will be from our breath. The moon, which is four days off full, will outshine many of the stars but should not spoil the party.

If the sky is clear we will get a very good view of Mars in the east in the early evening. Sitting between the constellations of Leo (easy to find) and Cancer (hard to find), it will be rising about thirty degrees north of east at dusk and pass through due east at 8.30pm. By then Orion, below the high moon, will have moved to occupy a large part of the southern sky. If you follow Orion’s belt down to nearer the horizon then low in the southeast you will see the brightest star of them…

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Squid Lights and Starry Nights

07 November 2008 by Tristan Gooley


I gave a lecture at the Clothworker’s Hall in the City last night. I think it went well, no rotten fruit or vegetables came my way at least. It did mean a night in a hotel and the need to fill some time in the usual Alan Partridge style. It was at the hotel that I read the cover story in this month’s National Geographic about light pollution. All stargazers are aware of the problem and I thought that this was a story that had been done pretty thoroughly, but the NG approach was fresh and made for a satisfying read.

One sentence caused me to pause and then reread. After a second reading my jaw my have dropped a touch:

‘In the south Atlantic the glow from a single fishing fleet—squid fishermen luring their prey with metal halide lamps—can be seen from space, burning brighter, in fact, than…

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Welcome to the home of natural navigation on the Internet.

Natural navigation is the art of being able to find your way solely by using nature. It encompasses using the sun, moon, stars, weather, water, land, sea, plants and animals.

The Natural Navigator is the school set up by Tristan Gooley to research and teach natural navigation. It is also the title of his book on the subject.

If you would like to know more about natural navigation you can browse the website, read about Tristan’s natural navigation book, or listen to a BBC Radio 4 interview with Tristan.

 





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