Which Way Are We Looking?
I took this photo in the South Downs a few days ago. Which direction are we looking? North, East, South or West? And Why? Struggling?…
Tag: east
Morning or Afternoon in Lyme Regis?
I recently took this photo in Lyme Regis, Dorset, on the south coast of England. But what time of day was the picture taken, morning…
Happy March Equinox!
Happy March Equinox! The sun will rise and set north of east and west from tomorrow. In the northern hemisphere this means its arc in…
I Had to Reach Out
My thanks to Betsy from Corvallis, Oregon, USA, for this email: Hi! I don’t know if the author has time for such small excitements, but…
Why does the Gnomon on a Sundial Point South?
The pointy bit of a sundial is called a ‘gnomon’. It is the part that casts the shadow and in the northern hemisphere it points…
Which Way Are We Looking? Golden Edition
Which direction are we looking in this photo taken in West Sussex, southeast UK? North, East, South or West? It’s a tough one. There are…
Winter Solstice in Texas
My thanks to Dan Acosta for this image of winter solstice sunrise yesterday from Corpus Christi, on the coast of Texas. The red arrow shows…
Horsham Park
My thanks to Leon Winnert for sending in this photo from Horsham Park. The picture was taken in the middle of the day, so no…
Prevailing Winds, Caribbean-Style
One of the few golden rules in natural navigation is this: make sure you get to know the winds in the area you are travelling.…
How to Build the World’s Simplest Sundial
My thanks to Vincent Alaniz for sending me this photo and a question, which I will answer here. Whenever we consider the position of the…
Church Alignment Research
My thanks to Leon Winnert – a double Natural Navigator course alumnus no less! – for taking the time to research church alignment in his…
Chichester
I took this photo in Chichester the other day, at midday. Chichester has four main streets, North, East, South and West. (A fairly appropriate home…
Tree Lichens and Royalty
————————- In these four pictures we are looking at the same beech tree. See if you can work out which way you are looking in…
Snow and Ice Patterns
I’m just back from some micronavigation in the Black Mountains in Wales. I should get a chance to blog in more detail in time, but…
Churches and Nomads
It has been an interesting few days. I spent yesterday in the South Downs with Michelle Kosinski and the crew from America’s NBC network. Whilst…
Greek Island Embarrassment
OK, it’s confession time. Again. I’m just back from a week’s holiday with my wife on the Greek island of Kefalonia. It was our first…
Churches face East, don’t they?
There is a wonderful article on the orientation of churches, from a 2007 issue of Archaeology magazine. My thanks to Doug for making me aware…
Finding Saturn
I crept outside this morning, trying not to wake the kids, and treated my self to a pre-heliacal viewing of Saturn. He was happily nestled…
Full Moon Rising
I have just been watching a beautiful full moon rising above the trees in the east. It was shrouded in layers of cirrostratus for a…
Great Nebulae and Emerging Expeditions
We are bearing down on stargazing-season. It is getting dark early enough in the evenings, staying dark long enough in the mornings and doesn’t yet…