How to Make a Compass Out of Sand, Snow or Dust
Whenever you’re on sand or snow, tune in to the direction the most recent winds have been blowing from and you’ll find yourself surrounded by…
Tag: compass
Navigation on Amundsen’s South Pole Expedition
There was an interesting article in Navigation News recently, The Long Journey Home, which looked at Amundsen’s navigation techniques on his South Pole expedition. The…
How to use TV Aerials as a Compass
I have written in many places about how TV satellite dishes can be used to help find direction, in the UK they normally point close…
Great Circles
Don’t look at the photo just yet! Thanks to National Maritime Museum members who came to my talk in the planetarium at the Royal Observatory…
Frost Shadows and Compasses
It is that time of year when nature likes to get out her frost compasses for us to admire. I took this photo last Friday…
Prickly Lettuce, A Compass Plant
Prickly lettuce is known to some of its navigating friends as the ‘compass plant’ and to its Roman friends as ‘lactuca serriola’. In truth it…
The Cloud Compass
Happy Winter Solstice One and All! Here’s an interesting solstice fact for you: the Earth is actually receiving more solar radiation at this time of…
Underground Navigation
I am spending a lot of time at the moment helping the BBC with a new series and have spent the last few days in…
Sarah Outen
On Friday I enjoyed a warming cup of hot chocolate with adventurer and ocean rower extraordinaire, Sarah Outen. We arranged to meet in Brighton and…