Celestial Navigation: Celestial Position Fix

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----------ABOUT THE VIDEO----------

This video was originally uploaded to our other channel, Casual Navigation, back in 2018.

Celestial Navigation is one of the skills that can mark you out as a true navigator.

In this video, I show you how to complete a full celestial position fix so that you can use your sextant for celestial navigation.

----------DISCLAIMER----------

Although we take all reasonable care to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information provided in the content on this channel, the content is provided “as is”. We do not make any warranties about the accuracy, content, completeness, legality or reliability of the information contained within this channel.

The information contained within our videos is not professional or legal advice and should not be considered as such. If you need professional or legal advice, you should consult a suitably qualified professional.

Any action you take as a result of watching this video is strictly at your own risk.

[frankstocker]

This video made me appreciate GPS even more.

[buster]

By the time i finished all this math id be 300 nautical miles off course 😅
Excellent video however i now know a lot more

[liutaurasgrybauskas]

The video: "Entertainment purposes only"
Me: continues to use this to prepare for celestial navigation exam

[JulieanGalak]

Great video series. I have no practical use for this, but being a fan of Forrester and O'Brien, I've always wanted to understand more about how this worked. One can really appreciate how much harder it would have been in the Age of Sail without calculators or accurate chronometers....

[TheMachineAnthem]

Very useful videos.. im attending first class now, its refreshing

[davecooper]

Very good explanation. A trig' ready-reckoner could be useful for the final chart fix perhaps (or, a scientific calculator). I've just returned from a trip on the "Royal Clipper" (Caribbean) and the navigating officer took me through their star maps and sextant use for Sirius, Betelgeuse and the Big Dipper (Plough). Unfortunately, the Southern Cross wasn't visible those to know they can still do it the 'old fashioned' way ! I did also practice taking bearings from the ship's port compass which was gimballed and had very good sighting rings.

[edwardfalk]

This is a great video. Good point about pre-calculating the altitudes and azimuths of the stars.

[captainphil]

Well done! If you're already marked your DR on the paper chart, then you can just use the compass rose, and your dividers, to measure 110' and 5.1NM from the DR. In that case you don't need the last calculation. Have you served the in merchant marine?

[Masus]

Are there any reliable methods to simplify this process? I am thinking about shooting the sun at noon which gives us our longitude more directly, or shooting polaris, which is usually directly to the north. Are there any other shortcuts that can help us create a simpler fix?

[georgesaguna]

Correct me if I am wrong but as far as I know the sunrise and sunset times are in local time not GMT. If it were GMT the sunrise of a location at 180E would be 15hours before, 1800 local time. Other then that on a northern course for 24hours would give you a flat of 4.8 degrees. Had it been on a course of 090 or 270 then the times wouldn’t have changed.

[diligentsun]

Get it Right, or be lost at sea, forever.
Not for dummies, At All.
Very VERY Important!

[abdulkkhan]

Thank you, great tutorial for Celestial navigation.

[edwardfalk]

"Other videos in this series …" - could you create a playlist maybe?

[imamdermawan]

As far i see video about this .. this is the best .. no debat

[raphi]

At the end, you forget to mention the clock. It is not just the position of stars, but the combination of stars and time, which lets you calculate your position.

[MollyAnderson-ii]

Jeepers, how often would you make a fix and how quickly could an experienced navigator do this?

[SuperSampling]

Maybe a good thing to do is to put the link to the playlist into the video description?

[jomaragosita]

Thank you very much for the review of this subject.

[mfbfreak]

Bloody hell that stuff's complicated. How did people ever invent this?!

[giuseppevaccarella]

More over: instead of calculating final fix, u can reproduce a scaled mercator chart and track everything with a divider