How to Use an Astrolabe

•••

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An astrolabe is a device that uses astral bodies like the sun and stars to either tell
your position in latitude or tell the local time. It can also be used to measure
celestial events like the wobble of the Earth’s axis.

Calculating the Time

Pick up the astrolabe and aim the alidade towards the sun. The alidade is the part
that moves on the outside of the astrolabe. Keep adjusting the alidade until a ray of
sunlight shines through its sights onto the palm of your hand.

Keep the device pointing at the sun and then read the altitude where it’s written in
degrees on the side of the device. The point to read is where the rule crosses
across the astrolabe. The rule is the moving part on the inside surface of the
astrolabe. It may be easier to have someone else read the measurement so you
can keep the device steady.

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Hold the astrolabe horizontally next. Turn the dial so that it moves past both the
degree that you found and the current date. So, for example, if the current day is
April 2 and the degree you read was 30, the dial called the “rete” should be lined up
along this line. The number the rete points to along the outer rim will tell you the
current time. The numbers go from 0 to 23 for the time instead of 1 to 12. So, for
example, “15” is 3 p.m.

Calculating Your Position and Navigating

Pick a star that you’re familiar with that’s visible when the sun first rises in the
morning.

Use the astrolabe to calculate how many degrees the sun is above the horizon
when it’s at its highest point in the sky.

Consult an astrolabe rules book. Using the book, start with the constellation that
was present when the sun rose. This list of stars will be across the top of the table.
Then cross-reference that with how many degrees the sun was above the horizon
at its highest point. The cross-section between these two pieces of data on the
table will give you the latitude where you’re currently standing.

Identifying Celestial Events

Pick an astrological event you want to study such as the tilt of the Earth. This is
most easily measured through the sun.

Use the astrolabe to measure the altitude of the sun, the same way you did when
you where determining the time. Make sure to write down the time when every
measurement was made.

Write down the measurement and keep a running record of each measurement on
a daily basis. It helps to make your measurement at the same time every day if
possible. The measurements at different times of the year for the sun can show you
how the Earth’s tilt affects our position.

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How to: Simple Homemade Sextant

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By Wesley Davis

A sextant is a device used to measure an object's altitude angle relative to a

horizontal line of reference. In the days before global positioning systems, a
navigator aboard a ship would use a sextant to measure the altitude angle of
prominent stars, such as Polaris, to navigate to and from the home port. In addition
to a sextant, a navigator who desires to know his ship's exact position needs an
almanac detailing the position of stars and planets over time, a method of telling
time relative to the observatory that produced the almanac, and a method of
mathematically computing his ship's location based upon the measurements of the
sextant and navigational charts.

Line up the straight edge of the protractor with the red line nearest the 6 inch edge
of the note card with the curve of the protractor sitting on the card. Trace the curve
of the protractor using your pencil. This line segment will be referred to as the "arc".

Make a mark where the cross hairs on the protractor sit on the card. This point will
be referred to as the "hub".

Rotate the protractor 90 degrees keeping the hub lined up with the cross hairs of
the protractor. The red line printed on the note card should pass through the 90
degree mark of the protractor.

Mark the degree measurements at 10-degree increments along the arc. Label the
degree measurements along the inside of the arc starting with zero degrees at the
center of the arc. Increase by 10 degrees until you reach 90 degrees at the red line
on the note card. Place small tic marks at 5-degree measurements between the
multiples of 10.

Draw line segments that extend from the hub of the circle to each degree
measurement that is a multiple of 10. The pattern will resemble spokes on a bicycle
wheel.

Cut out your sextant along the arc.

Unfold the paper clip so that it has a 180-degree "hook" at each end. Poke a hole in
the hub of the sextant using your paper clip.

Place one hooked end of the paper clip through the hub of the sextant and slide the
other end of the hook over the edge of the arc of your sextant. The paperclip will act
as your needle and should swing freely.

Cut the straw to 6 inches in length and tape it along the flat edge of the sextant.
The straw is your sight.

Look through the straw at an object and read the altitude angle at the point where
the paperclip crosses the arc of the sextant.

How to Find the Perseus Constellation

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Perseus is one of the oldest constellations, having been cataloged by the Greek
astronomer Ptolemy in the second century, and it has more than one attraction for
stargazers. It's the center from which the annual Perseid meteor shower, a
midsummer spectacle in the Northern Hemisphere, radiates. Also, one of its most
famous stars, Algol, is a binary star system that varies noticeably in brightness
every 68.75 hours. Perseus looks like a hunter or a dancing man, and it's easy to
find by using other well-known star formations as guides. You can also use a star
chart.

Using Other Star Formations

Locate the Big Dipper, which is one of the most recognizable star formations in the
northern sky. Not a constellation in its own right, the Big Dipper is part of Ursa
Major, the Great Bear.

Trace a line between the two stars that form the front of the dipper's pot and extend
that line north to Polaris, the pole star. Continue the line past Polaris for about two-
thirds of the distance, and it will lead you to the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia.
These two constellations appear to rotate around Polaris as the year progresses.

Locate the third star forming the "W" shape in Cassiopeia, starting from the part of
the constellation farthest from Polaris. Draw a line from that star to the second star
in the "W" and continue that line for about three times the distance between the two
stars to find Mirfak, the brightest star in Perseus.

Locate the Pleiades, which is another easy-to-spot cluster, and imagine a line from
that formation to Polaris. Perseus is on this line, so you can use this relationship to
verify that you found it.

Using a Star Chart

Get a star chart that displays the locations of the stars and constellations from your
latitude at the proper time of year. It's best if you use a chart for the proper month,
but one that displays the locations for the season is acceptable.

Orient yourself to face north, using a compass, and turn the chart so that north is at
the top. East will be on the left side of the map and west on the right, with the
center of the chart now corresponding roughly to the sky directly overhead. The
east-west orientation is reversed, which may seem counterintuitive. It's because the
proper way to view the chart is to hold it over your head as if it were the sky, so
when you look down on the map, you are seeing a mirror-image of the sky. If you
want to see the direct image of the sky on the map, lay on the ground and hold the
map overhead, or you can use a mirror laid on the ground or a table surface. If you
have a scanner, you can scan the image and mirror-reverse it using image-
processing software, then print it out.

Locate Perseus on the chart, then turn to face the direction indicated and look for
Mirfak in the sky. It's the brightest star and easiest to spot. Once you've located it,
you can pick out the other stars, including the demon star Algol, by mentally
transposing the lines on the chart onto the sky.

How to Calculate The Sun's Altitude

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You may have heard in your travels that at noon, the sun is "directly overhead" in
the sky. Unless you happen to be at or north of the Arctic Circle, this is technically
never the case. Not only that, but unless you live at Earth's equator, the highest
position above the horizon reaches each day –that is, the sun's altitude – varies
slightly from day to day over the course of the year.

The sun's altitude in degrees depends on two factors: your distance from the
equator and the date.

Step 1: Get Situated

Your latitude is a number between 0 degrees (if you live at the equator) and 90
degrees (if you live at the North or South pole). Most people in the United States
are between 25 degrees north latitude and 45 degrees north latitude. Because the
Earth's circumference is about 25,000 miles and there are 360 degrees in a circle,
each degree of latitude works out to a little less than 70 miles.
If you don't know your latitude, visit the NASA Latitude/Longitude Finder (see
Resources) and enter your location. For example, Boston, Massachusetts, USA is
at 42.36 degrees north latitude.

Step 2: Determine the Sun's Equinox Altitude

The Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees from a line perpendicular to its plane of rotation,
like a spinning top that has begun to wobble. This is what causes the seasons, and
is also the reason the sun's highest altitude varies. On about March 22 or 23 and
again on about September 22 or 23, Earth passes through an equinox -- Latin for
"equal night." On these two days, the Earth gets 12 hours or light and 12 hours of
darkness, and the sun climbs to an altitude equal to (90 - L) degrees above the
horizon. In the case of Boston, then, this is (90 - 42.36) = 47.64 degrees about the
horizon, which is just over halfway to the zenith (the point directly overhead).

Step 3. Determine the Sun's Solstice Altitudes

Starting on the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere on March 22 or 23, the
first day of spring, the amount of time the Earth spends in light continues to
increase, and the sun climbs to a progressively higher point each day. After three
months, on June 22 or so, the summer solstice, the first day of summer and the so-
called "longest day of the year," arrives. Because of the 23.5-degree tilt mentioned
above, the sun at noon in Boston is now (90 - 42.36 + 23.5) degrees, or 71.14
degrees above the horizon. This is about 80 percent of the way from the horizon to
the zenith (71.14 ÷ 90 = 0.790).

Six months later, on December 22 or 23, the autumnal equinox has come and gone
and the winter solstice arrives. On this day, the first day of winter and the so-called
"shortest day of the year," the situation from summer is reversed, and the sun only
reaches an altitude of (90 - 42.36 - 23.5) degrees, or 24.1 degrees. This is just over
one-fourth of the distance from the horizon to the zenith (24.14 ÷ 90 = 0.268).

Step 4: Factor in the Declination for Today

The variation owing to the Earth's tilt is called the declination. It is a positive number
in the spring and summer and a negative number in the fall and winter, varying
between the values of 23.5 and -23.5 degrees.

The equation for calculating the altitude above the horizon on any given day is (90
- L + D). In our initial examples, on the equinoxes, D was zero and was therefore
not explicitly included.

To determine the declination for today and the sun's altitude, you can use the
NOAA Solar Calculator or the Kiesan Calculator, both online. If you don't have
access to one of these, you can make a decent guess as long as you know the date
and your approximate latitude. For example, if it's early May and you're in Miami,
Florida, you know that the sun's declination is about halfway between 0 and 23.5
because spring is half over, and your latitude is about 25 degrees. Therefore, you
can estimate that the sun will climb to an elevation of about (90 - 25 + 11.5) = 76.5
degrees.

Tools Used by Early Explorers

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It's hard to imagine going anywhere today without a GPS unit, a PDA or at least
directions from a reputable map, but early explorers did it without modern
equipment as they courageously forged their way to uncharted lands. Despite the
fact that exploration was often prompted by a lust for gold or riches, or to conquer
people and acquire land, often in the name of religion, early explorers nevertheless
used tools that were state-of-the-art at the time, but now seem crude compared to
the electronic devices available in the 21st century. Read on to learn more about
the tools early explorers used.

Stars and the Astrolabe

Phoenician explorer-navigators sailed from the Mediterranean along the coast of
Europe and Africa, keeping land in their sights. If they ventured further out to sea,
they relied on the "Phoenician Star," now known as Polaris, to guide them. In the
event that the stars were obscured by clouds and bad weather, they opted to head
back to the safety of land. The astrolabe was invented later, possibly by the Greeks
around 200 B.C.E., and was initially used by astrologers and astronomers to "take a
star" when measuring angles and altitude of the Sun to establish latitude. Using an
astrolabe to fix location required a clear view of the horizon and a steady hand.
Unfortunately, when used aboard ships, the rolling of the seas and pitching of a
ship could result in erroneous readings and measurements.

Cross-staffs and Back-staffs

The cross-staff was a simple instrument used for measuring the distance between
Polaris and the horizon. It was basically two wooden pieces, one long and one a
much shorter cross-piece. The longer section was marked off by a graduated scale
that measured how high the sun or Polaris was in the sky. Two major drawbacks of
the cross-staff were that the explorer had to stare directly into the sun to use it and
was blinded, and the device was virtually useless in cloudy weather. Also, a rocking
ship interfered with the accuracy of any measurements taken. In the late 16th
century, John Davis invented the back-staff, which was used with the observer's
back to the sun. By sighting the horizon, the sun was reflected onto a horizontal slit
made of brass, and by making adjustments to the sliding vane, more accurate
altitude and latitudinal measurements could be made.

Lodestones and Compasses

One of the first ways explorers located north was to use a lodestone, a magnetic
rock suspended on a string or poised on a piece of wood. Sometimes needles were
magnetized by a lodestone and hung on a string to indicate true north. Eventually,
the Venetians devised a compass that indicated the four directional points and used
a magnetized needle. Explorers on land and sea began using compasses, which
were a fairly reliable means of finding direction, except when land masses
interfered with the needle's magnetic properties. Navigators needed to know not
only the direction they were heading, but how fast they were traveling in order to
estimate where they were. So, in combination with the compass, explorers at sea
used a chip log, a floating board on a knotted rope, that they tossed overboard, and
made calculations on their ship's speed by timing how long it took to reel in the
board and measuring how much rope had been reeled out.

Sandglasses and Chip-logs

Around the 10th century A.D., the sandglass, or hourglass, was invented to mark
the passage of hours. Early explorers, especially those at sea, needed to mark not
only the length of their watches, but also the time it took to reel in and out the rope
attached to the chip log. Sandglasses, most often filled with pulverized shells,
marble or rocks instead of sand to avoid clumping, measured different increments
of time, usually an hour, but 30-second sandglasses were also needed for timing
the chip-log.

The Quadrant Device

Another simple device used by early explorers from medieval times on for
measuring altitude and latitude was the quadrant. The quadrant was a quarter-circle
wedge of wood or metal with a scale of 0-90 degrees marked along its outer edge.
A rope or string weighted on one end with a plumb bob hung down from the tip of
the quadrant; an explorer or navigator looked through a small pinhole in the center,
sighted the sun or star, and read the degree indicated by the plumb bob. The height
of large objects, mountains or hills could be determined using a quadrant, as well
as the angle of the sun or Polaris.

The Traverse Boards

Probably invented some time during the 1500s, traverse boards were used in
navigation and early exploration to record all the information gathered from a sailor
during his four-hour watch. The board kept track of how far the ship had traveled,
the direction it had been heading, and the speed it had made. The wooden traverse
board used a system of holes and pegs for the user to indicate these points over a
four-hour period of time, so that at a glance anyone else on the ship could know
what had transpired. At the end of the watch, the information was transferred and
given to the captain of the ship, who then transferred it to the ship's log at the end
of each day. Using the information gathered on the traverse boards, the navigator
aboard ships could track the progress of the sea journey on any maps available to
him at the time.

What is an Armillary Sphere?

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An armillary sphere is a tool that can be used to solve various astronomical

problems or as an educational tool to represent movements in the heavens. It was
once common to use armillary spheres to teach the differences between the
Ptolemaic model, named for Greek astronomer Ptolemy, and the Copernican
model, named for Polish astronomer Copernicus, of the universe. An armillary
sphere can be used to track the path of the sun for a given day of the year or to
determine the coordinates of a star, among other things.

History
The armillary sphere originated in ancient Greece, where it was used primarily as a
teaching instrument, although bigger versions were used as observational tools.
Originally, the sphere in the center of the instrument represented the Earth,
according to the Ptolemaic model of the universe, but as the Copernican model
grew more influential, the sphere came to represent the sun. Often, armillary
spheres were built in pairs, with one representing each model, to teach the
differences between the two.

From the late medieval period, numerous artistic representations have survived that
show the South Pole extending downwards to form a handle. That style of armillary
sphere persisted through to the early modern era, but in the 16th and 17th
centuries, it became more common for them to be built with stands and cradles
along with a horizon ring.

Time Frame
It’s unclear exactly when armillary spheres were first invented. Some believe that
they were invented by Eratosthenes, a Greek astronomer, around 255 BC, but the
lack of detail in the writings of various Greek and Roman commentators and
historians casts some doubt on this assertion. Armillary spheres were also invented
in China in the first century AD, independent of Western influences.

In Europe, armillary spheres were common in the late medieval period and through
the early modern era. Many surviving armillary spheres from the 1500s and after
indicate that they were made from precious metals for collectors. In the 18th
century, armillary spheres were also made from wood and pasteboard. They were
used through the 19th century, primarily as educational tools to teach the difference
between the Ptolemaic and Copernican models of the universe.

Types
Armillary spheres can be divided into two main categories: observational armillary
spheres and demonstrational instruments. The former is the type used by Ptolemy
and Danish astronomerTycho Brahe, which tend to be bigger than demonstrational
armillary spheres and have fewer rings, which makes them both more accurate and
easier to use.

Function
Armillary spheres were used by setting them to the appropriate latitude by setting
the outer meridian rings in a position perpendicular to the horizon and parallel to a
line drawn from north to south. Their orientation was established by sighting a
celestial object (star, sun, moon or planet) whose position on the ecliptic was
known, using a divided ecliptic ring and a ring corresponding to the latitude. The
position of a body on the ecliptic could be found using a divided inner latitude ring
that held an inner ring which could be turned without disrupting the latitude ring.

Parts
Armillary spheres have a central sphere representing either the Earth or the sun.
They have graduated rings representing circles on celestial sphere, such as the
meridian, equator, ecliptic horizon, tropics and colures. The rings defining the
sphere (the colures and equator) represent the firmament, the sphere on which
fixed stars lie. The band going around the sphere at an angle to the equator
represents the constellations of the zodiac. The line that runs through that band is
the ecliptic, the path the sun follows across the sky. The stand may be decorative,
but also allows you to place the sun in its astrological house for a given date and to
demonstrate the times of sunrise and sunset.

Armillary spheres that were made for collectors have extra parts. These might
include star-pointers resembling those on an astrolabe, mechanical drives to
simulate the rotation of the celestial sphere or circles to represent the planets.

Why Do the Positions of the Stars

Change Each Month?
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The monthly positions of the stars change because of the interaction between the
rotation of the earth around its axis and the orbit of the earth around the sun. The
stars rotate around the north and south celestial poles; hence the stars are always
moving relative to a point on the earth's surface. Additionally, the earth is always
moving around the sun. However, the stars "move" in the sky slightly faster than the
sun.

Sidereal Day
The position of the stars in the sky changes by 360 degrees every 23 hours, 56
minutes and 4 seconds. This period of time is called a sidereal day. For example, if
you locate a particular constellation at precisely midnight on one night of the year, it
will be in that exact same part of the sky at 11:56:04 the following night.

Solar Day
The position of the sun in the sky changes by 360 degrees every 24 hours. This
period of time is called a solar day. The sun is in the exact same spot in the sky
every 24 hours of apparent solar time. Apparent solar time is the kind of time told by
sundials. However, most other clocks keep track of mean solar time: this is an
average of the deviations caused by the Earth's tilt and its elliptical orbit.

Solar Days versus Sidereal Days

The amount of time it takes for the sun to make a complete trip across the sky is
different from that of the stars. The difference between sidereal days and solar days
causes the positions of the stars to change each month relative to solar time. The
stars make it across the sky quicker than the sun; therefore, they appear to move
west slightly over a solar day. Alternatively, the sun appears to lag eastward behind
the stars.

Changes in Position Per Month

With the exception of the North Star, the position of the stars in the sky changes by
nearly one degree every 24 hours of solar time. For example, if you locate the
bright star Sirius in the night sky, it will appear to have moved westward by one
degree 24 hours later. Therefore, over the course of a month, the position of the
stars at a given time will shift by roughly 30 degrees. Over 12 months, the position
of the stars will shift by 360 degrees. Hence, we see the same group of stars at the
same time each year.

Viewing the International Space Station

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Although it travels high above the Earth’s surface, the International Space Station is
the third brightest object in the heavens. In fact, it’s so easy to see that you don’t
need a telescope to spot it--assuming you know where space station is. NASA’s
has provided a web service so that you can always know exactly where to look for
the ISS.

Navigate to the Sighting Location Lookup section of NASA’s Spot the Station
website (link in Resources).

Click the drop-down menus in the Location Lookup form to select your country,
state or region, and city. NASA identifies over 6,700 locations over which the ISS
travels. If you don’t see your location in the City drop-down menu, select the one
that’s closest to you.

Click “Next” to view a table that displays sighting locations. The table’s Date column
displays the dates the ISS passes near the location you selected. Find a date you’d
like to view the ISS and review the values in the Visible and Max Height columns
next to that date. For instance, if you see “3 min” in the Visible column, the ISS
remains visible for three minutes. The Max Height column shows the space
station’s maximum elevation in degrees above the horizon.

Review the value in the Appears column for the date you’ve chosen. This value is
important because it tells you where to look. An example value might be "10 above
NNE." This means that you should look 10 degrees above the horizon in the North
Northeast direction. If the value was "24 above W," you’d look 24 degrees above
the horizon towards the west.
Note the values in the Disappears column. Those values are similar to the ones in
the Appears columns. The value in the Disappears column tells you where to look if
you’d like to see the ISS as it disappears from view. If the value for your chosen
date is "13 above E," you’d look 13 degrees above the horizon towards the west to
see the ISS disappear from view.

Strange, Interesting Facts About Sundials

•••

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Our daily lives run based on time and schedules, and people often take telling time
for granted, as it is easy to look at a watch or a clock and find out what time it is.
But long ago, telling time wasn’t so convenient. Shadows played a big part in time
telling, based on how the shadows reflected on the earth. Sundials are an important
part of time-telling history.

Gnomon
The gnomon is the pointer on a sundial that casts the shadow. It is a word that
comes from ancient Greek and means "indicator." Gnomons can vary in size and
style, depending on the sundial. When sundials were first made, the gnomons stood
vertically, so people could observe the altitude of the sun.

History
People first learned about time by watching the sun rise and set. From this
knowledge, they developed a way to tell time based on how the sun rose and how it
set. They noticed that objects would cast unique shadows based on where the sun
was located. They could plan their days based on the shadows. Sundials changed
and evolved throughout history. They began as large objects, but were later
downsized so that they could be carried around.

Types
There are two main types of sundials. The first is the altitude dial. Altitude dials help
people determine the sun’s altitude or height of the sun above the horizon. These
types of dials are difficult to work with, because they need to be correctly aligned
with the sun. The other type of sundial is the azimuth sundial. This type of dial helps
people determine time by the sun’s angle on the arc. These dials also need to be
oriented correctly; however, they usually have a magnet inside to help with this.

How Sundials Work

Sundials work by the sun casting a shadow on the sundial’s gnomon. When the sun
is at it highest point of the day, or midday, the shadow is the shortest. When the sun
is lower, in the afternoon, the shadow is the longest. It is important to keep in mind
that the sun’s height is also affected by the seasons. Sundials are usually well
marked with daylight hours, and there are some that have all 24 hours marked on
them.

How to Calculate the Winter Solstice Sun

Angle
•••

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During a solstice, which occurs around Dec. 21 and June 21 every year, the Earth's
axis is positioned relative to the sun such that one hemisphere is closest to the sun
and the other is farthest from the sun. The hemisphere farthest from the sun
experiences the winter solstice, with the direct rays of the sun falling 23.5 degrees
north of the equator. Calculate the sun angle during the winter solstice for your
location by determining your latitude and doing two simple calculations.

Consult an atlas or a geographical website to find the latitude of your location on

Earth. For example, if you live in Cape Canaveral, Fla., your latitude is 28° 24' 21"
N, or approximately 28.4 degrees.
Add 23.5 degrees to your latitude to compensate for the fact that the sun's direct
rays fall on one of the tropic lines during the winter solstice: the Tropic of Cancer for
the northern hemisphere and the Tropic of Capricorn for the southern hemisphere.
For example, if you live in Cape Canaveral, add 23.5 to 28.4 to get 51.9 degrees.

Subtract this value from 90 degrees to get the angle of elevation from the horizon of
the sun during midday on the winter solstice. In the above example, subtract 51.9
from 90 to get 39.1 degrees. This is the angle of elevation of the sun in Cape
Canaveral at midday.

How to find your zodiac in the sky

•••

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Have you ever wanted to be able to find constellations in the night sky? Then, here
are some helpful hints for finding a set of constellations that wrap around the earth
in one big circle!

The group of constellations covered in this tutorial is known as the Zodiacal

Constellations. There are twelve constellations that make a ring around the Earth.
To astronomers, this band is called the Ecliptic, and is the path the Sun and the
Moon both appear to take around the Earth. To astrologers, this imaginary band is
what governs many of our personal traits. When an astrologer says that your Sun is
in Cancer, this means that at the time you were born, the Sun appeared to be in the
constellation Cancer. Because of this, you cannot see the constellation
representing your birth sign on your birthday. Instead, you have to wait a few
months until the sun has moved a sufficient number of signs away.

With this set of directions, you should be able to find all of these with great ease!
Happy stargazing!

Taurus (the Bull)- This constellation appears to be a "V". It is most easily found by
looking at Orion's belt stars (three stars in a line). Trace a line through these stars
and follow it to the right until you hit a bright red star. This star is called Aldebaran,
and is the eye of the Bull. The "V" it is part of is Taurus.
Gemini (the Twins)- This constellation can also be found by using Orion. When
looking at Orion, you will see the three belt stars surrounded by four stars marking
Orion's feet and shoulders. The lower right star is the bright blue star Rigel. The top
left star is the red giant Betelgeuse. Starting at Rigel, going through the middle belt
star, onto Betelgeuse and continue in this line will bring you to two stars of equal
brightness. These are Castor and Pollux, the stars that make up Gemini.

Cancer (the Crab)- This is the single hardest constellation to find in the night sky. It
requires a completely dark sky. The constellation itself looks like an upside-down
"Y". The best way to find Cancer is to find Taurus and Gemini, draw a line through
them and continue on to the left until you come to a big empty spot in the sky (it
won't take long). The big empty spot is Cancer!

Leo (the Lion)- Using the same method you just used to find Cancer, keep tracing
that line until you hit a backward question mark followed by a triangle. This is the
stately Leo. The bright star at the end of Leo's tail is Denebola, which means "the
tail". If you cannot find Taurus and Gemini, use the Big Dipper to help you find Leo.
Use the two pointer stars that help you find the Little Dipper, only this time trace
them away from the North Star. These two stars will lead you to the triangle part of
Leo.

Virgo (the Maiden)- This is another constellation that is easily found off the Big
Dipper. Start with the Big Dipper. Trace the handle away from the "bowl", and follow
the arc to the bright star Arcturus. From there, continue on to the blue star Spica.
Spica appears to be the center of a "Y"-shaped constellation. This constellation is
Virgo.

Libra (the Scales)- Another constellation best located using the "draw a line around
the sky" method, Libra looks like a square standing on one corner. The fun part of
this constellation are the stars to the left. Both have rather long Arabic names:
Zubenelganumi and Zubeneshameli.

Scorpio (the Scorpion)- Again, draw an imaginary line through the constellations
you have already located until you reach a constellation that looks like a fishing
hook with a bright red star in the middle of it. The star is Antares, and the
constellation is Scorpio. Scorpio has been an important constellation to the people
living in the Pacific Ocean. It has been a point of reference for fishermen moving
between islands so they could find their way home. Scorpio was also well-known to
the Ancient Greeks, and is possible proof of precession (the idea that the night sky
has changed over time). The Greeks told a story about the mighty hunter Orion, a
favored companion of the goddess Artemis. She spent so much time with him that
her brother Apollo became jealous. One day, when Artemis was off with her hunting
maidens, Apollo sent a huge scorpion after Orion. A battle ensued, and as Orion
was turning to escape the scorpion, it stung him and killed him. When Artemis
learned of her friend's death, she was furious with her brother. To make amends
with her, Apollo helped her hang Orion in the sky, but he also hung the Scorpion to
remind her of the power of his anger. The two played chase around the sky. Today,
they still do, but they are never in the sky together.
Sagittarius (the Archer)- Beside Scorpio is a cute little constellation that looks like a
teapot. This is Sagittarius. A great way to help people see this constellation is to
sing the Teapot Song while tracing Sagittarius. When you get to the part that says,
"Tip me over and pour me out," trace the "steam" that appears to go through the
"spout" of Sagittarius. This is the Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way, and when you
look at it, you are looking toward the center of the galaxy.

Capricorn (the Goat)- Use that line-drawing method you have been mastering all
year to get from Sagittarius to Capricorn. The best way to describe this constellation
is to share its common nickname: the "Marilyn Monroe" smile. Capricorn literally
looks like the outline of a big smile. Another way to find this constellation is to locate
the triangle that the Milky Way goes through. This is the Summer Triangle, and it
points right at Capricorn.

Aquarius (the Water Bearer)- This is another tricky one to find. Use your line-
drawing technique to draw a line from Capricorn to an oval shape of pairs of stars.
This is the flowing water of Aquarius.

Pisces (the Fish)- This one is tricky, but fun! Use the line-drawing technique to get
to a big square (this is a really big square). You are looking for stars that go along
two sides of the square, outside the square, that will meet at one corner of the
square. At each end of these lines should be a round shape. This is Pisces. It is
tricky to see exactly which stars belong to Pisces, and which belong to its fellow
constellations Pegasus (the big square) and Andromeda (a "v" off one corner of
Pegasus).

Aries (the Ram)- This constellation can be found by drawing lines from either
Pisces or Taurus. It is the small triangle that is not beside Andromeda (there are
two in that area).

How to Tell Time With Your Shadow

•••

RELATED

How to Track the Moon's Path Across the Sky

Updated April 24, 2017

By Christina Sloane
Sunlight shifts over the course of a day, hitting the Earth directly around noon, from
the east in the morning and from the west later in the afternoon and early evening.
For centuries, people have used sundials to tell time based on sunlight’s changing
directions and its effects on shadows. At different times of the day, your shadow
gets longer and shorter, or may disappear. You can tell the time based on your
shadow’s current length.

Determine the latitude and longitude of your current location. You can use a GPS or
enter your address at the World Atlas site to find it.

Measure and record your height in feet and inches.

Enter your latitude, longitude and height at the Personal Sundial site to return a
chart. The chart will show the exact lengths your shadow will be at certain times
throughout the day, broken down by months.

Stand outside in a clear spot so your shadow projects on the ground rather than a
wall. Have a helper measure the length of your shadow. Your shadow will be longer
in the beginning and end of the day, and shorter toward the middle.

Look up your shadow’s length on the Personal Sundial chart to determine the time.

How to Read Longitude and Latitude

•••

RELATED

How to Understand Latitude and Longitude

Updated June 12, 2018

By Rachelle Dragani

Longitude and latitude are tools that pinpoint any location on Earth. With the dawn
of GPS systems and smartphone maps, it’s not as common to map out locations
using long numerical coordinates. But the latitude and longitude system is the basis
of many of those mapping apps, and an understanding of how to read those
coordinates is a great way to increase geographical awareness and communicate
global addresses in any language.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

Latitude and longitude are broken into degrees, minutes, seconds and directions,
starting with latitude. For instance, an area with coordinates marked 41° 56’
54.3732” N, 87° 39’ 19.2024” W would be read as 41 degrees, 56 minutes, 54.3732
seconds north; 87 degrees, 39 minutes, 19.2024 seconds west.

Understanding Longitude and Latitude

Under the longitude and latitude system, the Earth is divided into a grid of
horizontal and vertical lines. The horizontal lines are called latitude lines; because
they run parallel to the equator, they are also called parallels of latitude. The
starting point for latitude lines is the equator, which is at 0 degrees latitude. Each
line of latitude both north and south of the equator increases by one degree, until
you hit the North and South Poles, which sit 90 degrees north and south,
respectively, of the equator.

Everything north of the equator is part of the Northern Hemisphere, and everything
south makes up the Southern Hemisphere.

The vertical lines of longitude are also known as meridians. The starting point for
lines of longitude is called the prime meridian. It passes through Greenwich,
England, a spot chosen during an 1884 conference to determine the latitude and
longitude system.

Directly 180 degrees both west and east of that spot is the antipodal meridian. West
of the prime meridian is the Western Hemisphere, and east of that line is the
Eastern Hemisphere. The prime meridian is measured at 0 degrees, and each line
east and west of there increases by one degree.

Like Clockwork
Reading latitude and longitude is similar to reading the time, in which you would
start with the hour, and then nail it down to minutes and seconds to get as precise a
reading as possible. You would also specify whether it is the AM or PM. Similarly, a
coordinates reading starts with degrees, and then narrows down to minutes and
seconds in order to pinpoint the exact location, ending with the hemisphere name.

To read the coordinates of any location, start with the number of degrees on the
latitude line, and clarify whether it is in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere. The
Earth is nearly 25,000 miles around, so once divided into 360 degrees, it means
each degree is about 69 miles wide. Each degree is then broken down into 60
minutes. Each of those minutes breaks down into 60 seconds, which are often read
to several decimal points in order to be as precise as possible. You may see these
types of coordinates labeled as DMS latitude and longitude, with DMS standing for
degrees, minutes, seconds. This notation distinguishes the degree-minute-second
system from a separate notation system that represents coordinates in decimal
form.

Take Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, in Chicago, Illinois. Its coordinates
are latitude: 41° 56’ 54.3732” N, longitude: 87° 39’ 19.2024” W.
To read it, start with the first set of numbers, or the latitude. That line reads, 41
degrees, 56 minutes, 54.3732 seconds north. The longitude reads as 87 degrees,
39 minutes, 19.2024 seconds west.

If you look at a globe marked with the longitudinal and latitudinal degrees, it will be
easy to pinpoint exactly where Wrigley Field is located based solely on its
coordinates.

Does an Equinox Happen All Over the

Earth at the Same Time?
•••

RELATED

What Is Sun Transit & Moon Transit?

Updated April 25, 2017

By Chris Deziel

Earth's axis of rotation is tilted 23.5 degrees relative to its orbital motion, and that
gives the planet its seasons. For a single moment twice a year, both poles are
equidistant from the sun; day and night are roughly equal in both hemispheres on
the dates when this equinox occurs. When measured in sidereal time -- time
relative to the stars -- the equinox happens at the same moment for everyone, but
people experience it at different local times.

Earth's Axial Tilt

All the planets are tilted, and Earth's 23.5-degree tilt isn't much compared to
Uranus, which spins around an axis tilted almost 90 degrees relative to its orbital
motion. It's a lot compared to Jupiter, though, which has an axial tilt of only 3
degrees. Because of the tilt of its axis, each of Earth's poles spends one half of the
year closer to the sun than the other, basking in summer warmth, and the other half
shivering in the frigidity of winter. The seasonal progressions of each hemisphere
are mirror images of each other, unfolding in opposite directions from two points of
reference, which are the equinoxes.

Equinox Dates
The two equinoxes -- which are the days on which day and night are nearly equal --
occur roughly around the same time every year, but they don't always fall on the
same dates. In 2011, the September equinox -- which is the beginning of autumn in
the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of spring in the Southern Hemisphere -
- fell on September 23. In 2012, it occurred on September 22. Each equinox occurs
sometime within a three-day span. The same is true of the solstices, which are the
days when Earth's axis makes its most oblique angle with respect to the sun.

The Equinox Event

Although the word equinox refers to a date, the event that is responsible for it -- the
sun's crossing of the celestial equator -- occurs in a single moment. The moment is
recorded in almanacs in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC). For an observer on a specific part of the globe to be prepared to
celebrate the moment, that observer must convert GMT or UTC to the relevant local
time. People in different time zones observe the sun's passage at different local
times. For some, the event occurs during the day while for others it occurs at night.

The Elusive Equinox

Although day and night are supposed to be of equal length on the equinox, this
equality never happens at the equator, and it happens on days other than the actual
equinox date at higher latitudes. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the
sun is visible before it rises and after it sets because of the refraction of its light
through the atmosphere. The second is that the sun's orb has angular extension in
the sky. Dawn occurs when the leading edge of the sun breaks the horizon -- not its
center -- and dusk ends when its tailing edge disappears. Together, these effects
add more than 6 minutes to the apparent length of the day.

What Navigational Tools Were Used in

the Year 1400?
•••

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Tools Used by Early Explorers

Updated April 24, 2017

By Jennifer Spirko
The Renaissance ushered in an era of exploration and discovery for Europeans,
with new mapping techniques, new economic realities and a hunger to find “new”
lands and trade routes. The mariners of 1400 used a combination of old and new
technologies to find their way across the sea and back home again.

Finding Their Way

Among the oldest and most basic tools was the lead line, used since antiquity to
measure depth. This measurement could tell sailors how far they were from land.
Another low-tech device, the ka-mal, was developed in Asia and the Middle East. It
used a piece of wood marked for the position of Polaris at the latitude of various
ports. By 1400, more sophisticated versions used a length of knotted string so the
navigator could, by placing the string in his mouth, sight the horizon and the height
of Polaris to judge latitude.

Timepieces also aided in navigation. In 1400, mariners still used hourglasses.

These, in connection with careful observation of shorelines and accurate logbooks,
helped navigators estimate location and predict arrival times.

Another device useful for determining latitude by sighting the position of stars was
the astrolabe, first developed in ancient Greece but not used for navigation for
centuries. An astrolabe has two rotating circles which the navigator sights through
and lines up to determine the altitude of the sun or a nighttime star, which helps
calculate latitude.

The newest tool was the compass, which uses a magnetized needle to indicate
north. Only in the 14th century did compasses become common in navigation.
Around that time, the familiar multipointed compass rose or star began appearing
on maps to indicate the four cardinal directions.

What Causes the Day/Night Cycle on

Earth?
•••

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Updated March 09, 2018

By Serm Murmson

The change between day and night is caused by the rotation of the Earth on its
axis. If the Earth did not rotate as it does, the day/night cycle would be very
different or possibly even nonexistent. The changing lengths of days and nights
depends on where you are on Earth and the time of year. Also, daylight hours are
affected by the tilt of the Earth's axis and its path around the sun.

Length of a Rotation
A solar day, 24 hours, is the time it takes for the Earth to rotate exactly once so that
the sun appears at the same place in the sky the next day. However, the Earth is
also moving around the sun, and this movement makes measuring the day
somewhat complicated. The actual time of one Earth rotation is a little shorter –
about 23 hours and 56 minutes. Astronomers discovered this by observing the time
it took for a star to appear in the same place in the sky the following day, and they
called this a sidereal day.

Longer and Shorter Days

Although a solar day is 24 hours, not every day has 12 hours of daylight and 12
hours of night. Daytime is shorter in winter than in summer. This is because the
Earth’s imaginary axis isn’t straight up and down, it is tilted 23.5 degrees. As the
Earth moves around the sun during a year, the northern half of the Earth is tilted
towards the sun in the summer, making daytime longer than night. In winter, this
reverses; the earth tilts away from the sun and nighttime becomes longer. In the
spring and fall, the tilt is neither toward or away from the sun but somewhere
between, so day and night are more the same at these times of the year.

The Solstices
The solstices are the positions of the Earth's orbit that mark the longest and
shortest days of the year. The winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is the
shortest day, after which daylight hours grow longer. The summer solstice in the
Northern Hemisphere falls on the longest day, after which daylight hours become
shorter. The solstices can also be named for the month in which they occur. For
example, the June solstice is the point in the Earth's orbit where the North Pole
faces the sun. In the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice is the longest day of
the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, the June solstice is the shortest day of the
year.

Position on Earth
Your place on the Earth relative to the equator also affects the number of daylight
hours you get in a solar day. For example, during summer in the Northern
Hemisphere, daylight hours increase the farther north you go; at this time, the Arctic
gets very little nighttime darkness. In the winter, daytime is shorter the farther north
you go. The seasonal changes in daylight hours are small near the equator and
more extreme close to the poles.

How Does a Sundial Work?

•••

RELATED

How to Calculate Elapsed Time

Updated September 07, 2019

By Kevin Beck

Try to imagine a world without the Internet. That's at least a little uncomfortable,
right? Now, remove mobile devices of any kind from the equation, along with digital
cameras and GPS technology.

When you go even further and eject wrist watches and wall clocks from the mix,
things start to feel almost panicky in a hurry. It's hard to believe today that until the
early 1800s, the sundial had been humankind's main way of keeping time for
thousands of years!

That stuff is all prep for the real question, though: What if you could not tell time? At
all? As in, what if life lacked any context for pinning down the whole notion of
"when" in anything resembling the immediate sense? (A modern Earthling is ill-
equipped to even confront this question; it's probably not possible for you to purge
your mind of the whole concept of seconds, minutes and hours, and of the
predictability the whole scheme of structured time offers.)

At some point in human cognitive evolution, your ancestors developed the ability to
associate routine, or at least regular, astronomical phenomena with the passing of
fixed amounts of "time," whatever and however they conceived of this quantity
(which even today eludes proper description even if there is a way to account for it
in math and physics).

Examples are the rising and setting of the sun, stars and moon each day, the
phases of the moon and the way the sky cycles through a precise and predictable
transformation every time the Earth completes another spin around its axis of
rotation (a "day") or trip around the sun (a "year").
 Enter the Sundial: the Basics
At a given stage in human or pre-human evolution, the creation of elaborate tools
allowed for your ancestors to accelerate their effective separation from other apes.
Hominid brains became sophisticated enough to appreciate the temporal
relationship between physical inevitabilities in their environment and biological
realities they needed to be cognizant of, such as the fact that it is easier to sleep "at
night"(that is, in darkness) but also the fact that certain dangerous predators go on
the prowl when it's dark.

What is a sundial? Formally, it is a chronometer (i.e., a timepiece) that uses the

shade produced by sunlight falling on a vertical rod to show local time. For reasons
you'll see shortly, the rod, called a gnomon, must be positioned parallel to Earth's
axis of rotation and point toward a position in the sky that corresponds to due north,
or the celestial north pole (CNP).

Therefore, at any given geographical latitude, the rod must be tilted at an angle to
the horizon (that is, the horizontal) that is identical to the magnitude of that latitude.

For example, someone building a sundial at latitude 40° in Boulder, Colorado, in the
United States, would aim the gnomon 40 degrees above the middle of the northern
horizon, just under halfway to the point directly overhead (the zenith). As you may
know, since there are 360 degrees in a circle, a half-circle like the sky covers 180
degrees; this means the angular distance from any horizon to the zenith is half of
this, or 90 degrees.

 Note: The directions in this article are aimed at readers in the Northern
Hemisphere. Others should reverse north-south directions as situations calling for
this arise.

Learning About Sundials

Having a proper handle on basic sundial facts requires memorizing the names of a
few non-moving parts, but it is hoped that you will approach this thinking like an
astronomer and gaining an appreciate for not just a high-quality sundial's amazing
craftsmanship, but also the science that has allowed this class of devices to
perform their single, endless job for thousands of years of human history.

You'll be exposed to all manner of interesting new terms as you read through this
article, and you'll even be poised to build your own sundial – be it humble or
elaborate – by the time you're through. But the most important thing for you to try to
focus your thinking on here is the relationships between the ecliptic, the celestial
equator, and the celestial poles.

You see, when learning about sundials, you're not really learning how to make a
quaint, if fascinating, tool that is no longer needed thanks to colossal and ongoing
jumps in human technology. You're leaning a great deal about the very framework
of astronomy – how objects are located and labeled, and how the heavenly cycles
 you see and take for granted were integrated into even the earliest sundials from
1500 BCE or so.

The Celestial Equator

Original creators of the sundial recognized the relationship between simple
geometry and the behavior, or specifically the apparent behavior, of objects in the
sky. The distinction is important, because for purposes of a sundial, the Earth is
treated as fixed, with other things "rising" and "setting" and "crossing the sky" –
descriptions that only make sense from the reference point of an Earth observer,
and which account for why the ancients did understandably think that everything in
the cosmos literally revolves around Earth.

The easiest way to imagine the system used to map objects in the sky is to take the
one used here on Earth (latitude and longitude) and picture the imaginary lines
being projected onto an imaginary sphere (actually a hemisphere, since you can
see only half of it) in the sky. A plane drawn through the middle of the Earth through
its equator intersects this celestial sphere in a circle, which presents as a line
called the celestial equator.

The Ecliptic
Meanwhile, another circular line in the sky is formed by the extension of the plane
of Earth's revolution around the sun. This imaginary line is called the ecliptic, and
represents the apparent 360-degree path of the sun through each year with respect
to the distant background stars. These stars appear motionless in comparison to
the sun and planets, because one way we measure the movement of the latter is
treating the former as a "fixed" reference frame.

 During a car trip, faraway things like clouds and distant mountains appear to be
moving with you, even as you quickly put horizontal distance between yourself and
the trees, cows and other objects that are far closer to the roadway. This is true
even though those mountains, like distant stars, are in fact shifting with respect to
your own position; they're just doing so much, much more slowly.

Because Earth's axis of rotation is tilted by 23.4° from its plane of revolution around
the sun, the ecliptic and the celestial equator are offset (tilted) by this amount. But
they meet at two points, like intersecting hula hoops of the same size. The sun
follows the celestial equator on these two days everywhere on Earth, on the vernal
equinox (transition from winter to spring in the Northern Hemisphere) and transition
from summer to fall (autumnal equinox).

 The daily rotation of the Earth and the fact that no stars are visible when the sun
itself is makes visualization of the ecliptic difficult for a newcomer. Be sure to
consult diagrams frequently as you read about sundials!

Other Standard Astronomical Terms

 On Earth, lines of latitude are parallel to each other all the way from the equator to
both poles. The lines in the sky corresponding to latitude lines are called lines
of declination, and establish north-south dimensional location.

Lines of longitude, on the other hand, are also called meridians on Earth. These
can be imagined as radiating outward from the two points formed by the celestial
poles and meeting again at the opposite pole, though no Earth viewer can see both
poles at once. The line passing from directly north on the horizon through the zenith
and toward due south on the opposite horizon is known as "the" meridian in
celestial lingo.

 Because the meridian separates the celestial sphere into eastern and western
halves, it plays a critical role in sundial design and positioning.

When identifying the east-west position in the sky of a celestial object, this part of
the coordinate is known as right ascension.

Sundial History
You have surely noticed that when the sun is close to the horizon (early morning or
late afternoon), shadows are longer than they are when the sun is more directly
above you. Yet the sun is crossing the sky at the same speed all the time, even if
the shadows are changing size and shape at different speeds.

This whim of geometry inspired the first sundials, as their inventors realized that
"time" could be divided reliably not just into days but portions of a day. The
improved ease of scheduling life activities under such a system are obvious.

The earliest sundials are believed to date back to Egypt, circa 1500 BCE. Some of
these were actually pocket-sized and could be carried around, because
the gnomon (Greek for "pole") could actually be a pinhole instead of a rod. They
had become useful for timekeeping even to the minute by the time mechanical
clocks had become commonplace and reliable, and were used well into the 1800s
to check the accuracy of "real" clocks.

Parts and Operation of a Sundial

The gnomon has already been mentioned. It needs to have two characteristics: It
must point toward the celestial pole and it must be inclined at an angle to the
horizon exactly equal to the observer's latitude. It is often made in the shape of a
fin.

The dial plate is the surface onto which the sun's shadow is projected. It can be
cylindrical or flat, and marked into whatever divisions its maker chooses as long as
these align with accurate time.

Hour lines are found for self-evident reasons on virtually all sundials, and mark
exact (though arbitrarily selected, in some sense) points in time.
The nodus is a a notch in the gnomon that allows for the determination of an exact,
sharp position along the line of the shadow, which might otherwise be fuzzy.

Types of Sundials
Sundials can be divided into two basic types, altitude dials and directional dials.

An altitude dial allows for determination of time using the sun's distance above the
horizon. In all cases, these must be oriented to a compass direction, while in others
the sun itself is a reference point. Selected kinds include plane dials, cylinder dials,
scaphe dials and ring dials.

A directional dial relies on azimuth (compass direction) and on the angle of the sun
as it nears the meridian at noon. Subtypes include horizontal, polar vertical,
azimuthal and equinoctal dials.

In all cases, you can imagine the sun rising and casting a wide shadow from one
side that gradually narrows to a line as noon approached and then repeats the
"movie" in reverse on the other side of the dial plate until sunset occurs.

Do-It-Yourself Sundial
Suggestions for making your own sundial are easy to find, and one to get you
started is included in the Resources. Remember, it's not the exact materials or how
ornate the creation looks that is most important; it's that you understand the physics
and can explain them to anyone with the good sense to ask you about your hard
work.

Oh, and one last tip: Don't choose a rainy day for your demonstration – this will
make the exercise a lot more "illuminating" for all present!

How to Find the Distance of a City From

the Equator
•••

RELATED

How to Calculate the Distance Between Latitude Lines

Updated May 21, 2018
By Melissa Mayer

Where are you right now? You probably know the name of the city or town you are
in, but do you know your coordinates or how far you are from the equator?
Estimating your precise position on the planet in relation to the equator is a real-
world application of both math and geography – and a pretty neat party trick.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

The simplest method to estimate your distance from the equator relies on only your
latitude in degrees, which is the first number in a set of coordinates. Since each
degree of latitude represents 69 miles, you can multiply your latitude by 69 to find
your distance from the equator in miles. To increase your precision, you can also
use the minutes and seconds in a more precise set of coordinates. 1 minute of
latitude represents 1.15 miles, and 1 second of latitude represents 101 feet.

Understanding the Globe

Before you can calculate or estimate the distance between your city and the
equator, you must first understand what a globe is. The globe is a model of the
Earth that appears covered by a grid. The lines that run around the globe from top
to bottom are lines of longitude – and these are not important for your goal of
quickly estimating distances to the equator. The lines that run horizontally around
the globe are lines of latitude. The equator is the longest line of latitude that
encircles the Earth at its widest point like a belt. Other lines of latitude also circle
the Earth above and below the equator.

Reading Coordinates
When you have a set of coordinates, you can use these to pinpoint a precise
location on the globe. Coordinates often look like this: (40°47′ N, 73°58′ W). The
first number inside the parentheses represents latitude and tells you the precise
location of Central Park in New York City: 40 degrees and 47 minutes north of the
equator.

Great-Circle Distance
Since the Earth is an ellipsoid or oblate spheroid and not a true sphere, all
calculations for distance across the globe are really estimations. The most accurate
calculation between two points on a sphere (or, near-sphere in this case) is the
great-circle distance, which relies on the very complicated haversine formula. Most
of the apps designed to quickly compute distance to the equator use this method,
but it is far too cumbersome for everyday estimations that don’t need to be as
precise as possible.

Use Latitude to Estimate Distance

The simplest way to estimate the distance from your city to the equator uses only
latitude. Since each degree of latitude represents approximately 69 miles, you can
multiply your latitude by 69 to estimate how many miles your location is from the
equator. For example, if you are in Central Park in New York City, you are 40
degrees north of the equator, so multiplying 40 by 69 gives you a rough estimate of
2,760 miles from that city to the equator.

To enhance your precision, you can also add the minutes and seconds to your
estimation. 1 minute equals 1.15 miles, and 1 second equals 101 feet. Adding these
small amounts to your estimation brings your total to approximately 2,814 miles. An
app that uses the very complex haversine formula would calculate this distance as
2,817 miles – which is pretty close to your quick estimation.

How is Parallax Used to Measure the

Distances to Stars?
•••

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Updated March 14, 2018

By Bert Markgraf

In astronomy, parallax is the apparent motion of nearby stars against their

background caused by the Earth's travel around the sun. Because closer stars
seem to move more than distant ones, the amount of apparent motion allows
astronomers to determine their distances by measuring the change in the angle of
observation as it appears from Earth.

The apparent motion and the change in angle are so small that they are
imperceptible to the naked eye. In fact, the first stellar parallax was only measured
in 1838 by German astronomer Friedrich Bessel. Applying the tangent trigonometric
function to the measured parallax angle and the distance traveled by the Earth
around the sun gives the distance to the star in question.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

The motion of the Earth around the sun produces an apparent motion in nearby
stars, resulting in a small change in the angle of observation of the star from Earth.
Astronomers can measure this angle and calculate the distance to the
corresponding star using the tangent trigonometric function.

How Parallax Works

The Earth moves around the sun on a yearly cycle with the distance from the Earth
to the sun being one astronomical unit (AU). This means that two observations of a
star six months apart take place from two points that are two AU apart as the Earth
travels from one end of its orbit to the other.

The angle of observation of a star changes slightly during the six months as the star
seems to move against its background. The smaller the angle, the less the star
seems to move and the further away it is. Measuring the angle and applying the
tangent to the triangle formed by the Earth, the sun and the star gives the distance
to the star.

Calculating Parallax
An astronomer might measure an angle of 2 arc seconds for the star he is
observing, and he wants to calculate the distance to the star. Parallax is so tiny, it is
measured in seconds of arc, equal to one-sixtieth of one minute of arc, which in turn
is one-sixtieth of a degree of rotation.

The astronomer also knows that the Earth has moved 2 AU between observations.
In other words, the right-angled triangle formed by the Earth, the sun and the star
has a length of 1 AU for the side between the Earth and the sun, while the angle at
the star, inside the right-angled triangle, is half the measured angle or 1 arc second.
Then, the distance to the star equals 1 AU divided by the tangent of 1 arc second or
206,265 AU.

To make it easier to handle the units of parallax measurement, the parsec is

defined as the distance to a star that has a parallax angle of 1 arc second, or
206,265 AU. To give some idea of the distances involved, one AU is about 93
million miles, one parsec is about 3.3 light years, and a light year is about 6 trillion
miles. The closest stars are several light years away.

How to Measure the Parallax Angle

The increasing accuracy of telescopes allows astronomers to measure smaller and
smaller parallax angles and to accurately calculate the distances to stars farther
and farther away. To measure a parallax angle, an astronomer has to record the
angles of observation of a star six months apart.

The astronomer chooses a stationary target close to the star in question, usually a
distant galaxy that does not move. He focuses on the galaxy and then the star,
measuring the angle of observation between them. Six months later he repeats the
process and records the new angle. The difference in the angles of observation is
the parallax angle. The astronomer can now calculate the distance to the star.