Resources
This page lists all the resources that are discussed on the other pages of the Celestial Navigation Net website.
SCHOOLS
The School of Ocean Sailing onboard in Maine
Starpath School of Navigation – correspondence and onsite in Seattle.
ALSO NEW ONLINE COURSE: Mystic Seaport Planetarium Courses – onsite in Connecticut
Sail the Sounds- onsite in Connecticut
Sail Due South – South Africa
PRODUCTS
Starpath
Celestaire
Landfall Navigation
Land and Sea Collection – including antiques
NAVIGATIONAL HISTORY AND INSTRUMENTS (See also Classroom Links)
John Harrison and the Longitude Problem Medieval Scientific Instruments (kamal, cross-staff, and quadrant)
Hands-On Astrolabe Page
Chaucer’s Treatise on the Astrolabe
www.astrolabes.org
Seaman’s Secrets – 1595
History of the Sextant
Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe
Longitude at Sea, from the Galileo Project
How A Sextant Works
Navigation by Sextant
WAYFINDING
Traditional Navigation in the Western Pacific
Polynesian Voyaging Society
Wayfinding, or Noninstrument Navigation from the PVS
Navigation in the Information Age: History and Context from Hawaii Nation.
Aboriginal (Native American)Astronomy
Videos
The Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey
The Navigators
CLASSROOM LINKS
Math and Science
Navigational Trigonometry
Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground – From the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory – Children’s Astronomy Activities. See their Chapter
on Coordinate Systems and Celestial Mapping (SCROLL DOWN!)
Heavenly Mathematics: Highlights of Cultural Astronomy
Astronomy without a Telescope
Navigating Around the World by Observing the Sun
Nova’s Shockwave Game on Finding Your Latitude
Projects
How to Make a Quadrant
How to Use a Quadrant
Measuring North Latitude at Night
How to Use a Cross-Staff
Make your own planisphere
Build Your Own Sextant
Cardboard Sextant Kit
Finding Latitude by Polaris (historical)
History (See also Navigational Instruments and History, above)
Age of Exploration
Christopher Columbus Navigation Page , with a Celestial Navigation page. Discovers’ Web
The Age of Exploration from the Mariner’s Museum Determination of Latitude by Sir Francis Drake – a page by Bob Graham. Teacher’s Guide to Teaching Longitude Secrets of Ancient Navigation Latitude: The Art and Science of 15th and 16th Century Navigation
American History
Short Biography of Nathaniel Bowditch The Underground Railroad:Connections to Freedom and Science - slaves used celestial navigation to find their way north. Institute of Navigation’s Spring 2000 Newsletter -scroll 1/2 down to Portney’s Corner for Lewis and Clark celestial navigation article. www.lewis-clark.org. – Articles on Formal Navigation by Lewis and Clark , Course, Time and Distance , and Latitude and Longitude David Thompson and Land Navigation (also Western Canada)
The Vikings Viking Navigation (scroll down for navigation information) The Legend of the Viking Sunstone Viking Sun Compass
TUTORIALS AND SUMMARIES
Al Placette’s Tutorial
Dutch Dresser’s online tutorial
Umland’s Short Guide to Celestial Navigation
Omar Reis’s Introduction to Celestial Navigation
Douglas S. J. De Couto’s summary
Celestial Navigation Basics from John Jacq
Celestial Navigation in a Teacup
ONLINE DATA: Almanac Information, Lat-Lon Finders, etc.
Bowditch’s American Practical Navigator Online Almanac and Sight reduction Information from the US Navy Find your latitude and longitude Publications 229 and 249 (air and maritime sight reduction tables) (click on “publications” in the left menu; select the sight reduction tables from the drop-down menu) Universal Time from the US Navy Omar Reis’s Online Nautical Almanac Civil and Nautical Twilight, Sun and Moon Rise and Set
INSTITUTES AND FOUNDATIONS
The Foundation for the Promotion of the Art of Navigation
Royal Institute of Navigation
Institute of Navigation
Nautical Almanac Office
MISCELLANEOUS SITES
US Sailing’s Requirements for Celestial Navigation Certification – the governing body for the sport of sailing in the US.
The U.S. Navy’s Celestial Navigation Page
Ocean Navigator Magazine
The Navigation List – archives
Interactive Sextant
Everything you wanted to know about Marvin Creamer but were afraid to ask!
SOFTWARE AND JAVA PROGRAMS
H. Umland’s Freeware Page
Palm Pilot Celnav Program
Java Script Programs for Navigators by Jacky Wong
Omar Reis’s Navigation Star Finder
Omar Reis’s Navigator Light Computer Program
Walter Fendt’s Apparent Position of a Star
Walter Fendt’s Coordinate Graphic Java Page
The Electric Astrolabe
Pocket Stars PC – (PDA)
ASNAV
Interactive Spreadsheets for Celestial Navigation
BOOKS
How to Use Plastic Sextants – and useful for anyone learning about any kind of sextant!
Secrets of the Viking Navigators
Latitude Hooks and Azimuth Rings, by Dennis Fisher
The Stars: A New Way to See Them by H.A. Rey
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel
Navigation in the Age of Discovery, By Duane A. Cline
Taking the Stars: Celestial Navigation from Argonauts to Astronauts by Peter Ifland
Emergency Navigation by David Burch
The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis (the Ptolemaic model of the universe)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham
Adrift, by Steve Callahan
My Old Man and the Sea, David and Daniel Hayes.
Celestial Navigation for Yachstmen by Mary Blewitt
Practical Celestial Navigation by Susan Howell
We the Navigators: the Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific by David Lewis
The Last Navigator by Stephen Thomas
Voyage of Rediscovery: A Cultural Odyssey through Polynesia by Ben. R. Finney
The Sextant Handbook by Bruce Bauer
The Star-Finder Book: A Complete Guide to the Many Uses of the 2102-D Starfinder by David Burch
The Nautical Almanac, Commercial Edition
Long-Term Almanac 2000-2050 by Geoffrey Kolbe
Line of Position Navigation: Sumner and Saint Hilaire – the Two Pillars of Modern Celestial Navigation by Peter Ifland and Michel Vanvaerenbergh
Out of Print – Worth Looking For!
Airborne: A Sentimental Journey by William F. Buckley Jr.
The Haven Finding Art: A History of Navigation from Odysseus to Captain Cook, by E.G.R. Taylor
A History of Nautical Astronomy by Charles H. Cotter
