Creating a Star Dial – Telling the Time from the Stars
A Guest Blog by Chloé. We stare up at the stars, eyes wide, I didn’t want to miss it this time! The children had shouted…
Tag: polaris
Natural Navigation with the Tuareg in the Libyan Sahara
The following article by Tristan Gooley was published in Navigation News in March 2010. My research to date has failed to uncover another soul who…
Bertram Thomas Crossing the Rub’ al Khali and Wilfred Thesiger
A big thanks to Mark Evans at Outward Bound Oman, for sending over images and the actual star sightings used by Bertram Thomas, from when…
Stunning Natural Navigation Image
A big thank you to James of James Walker Photography for his kind permission to reproduce this image from Umbria, Italy. I have come across…
How to Use a Kamal
In this photo, one of the Outward Bound Oman instructors, who I visited recently, is being taught how to use a traditional and beautifully simple…
Finding South Using the Stars
Finding South Using the Stars In the northern hemisphere Polaris, the North Star, tends to get all the attention when it comes to finding direction…
A Night Walk in the Woods
Last night the conditions felt right for a walk in the woods. There were plenty of clouds, but large gaps suggested that the stars would…
Fun guys to be around
UPDATE: My sources tell me that the first is a Magpie Inkcap (Coprinopsis picaceus) and the second is Green Elf Cup/Wood cup/Stain (Chlorociboria aeruginascens). My…
Stargazing Before Dawn
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…
Ripples and Reflections
After an enjoyable private course on Friday – we finished standing in a field looking at Orion, the Plough, Cassiopeia and, of course, Polaris –…
Jurassic Coast
My thanks to Richard, who sent in this picture from a lad’s walking weekend along the Jurassic Coast. He was given a private course as…
The Earth’s Rich Library
This just in… Tristan Many thanks for a fantastic day yesterday. I learnt so much and was stimulated also by the opportunity to apply what…
Mizar, Alcor and the Much Overlooked Plough
Northern natural navigators look at the Plough pretty much every night that is not completely overcast and yet we could argue that it gets overlooked.…
Sirius, Canopus and Camels
A good morning for the stars, but a bit damper in West Sussex than camels would like. Still, no reason not to enjoy an excerpt…
The Friendly Moon
Last night was one of those occasions where the moon was the natural navigator’s best option. At about 10pm the sky overhead was overcast with…