Celestial Navigation

Celestial navigation, use of the observed positions of celestial bodies to determine a navigator’s
position. At any moment some celestial body is at the zenith of any particular location on the
Earth’s surface. This location is called the ground position (GP). GP can thus be stated in terms of
celestial coordinates, with the declination of the celestial object equal to latitude and the
Greenwich hour angle equal to longitude.

Almanacs such as those published by the Nautical Almanac Office of the U.S. Naval Observatory
provide these coordinates for the Sun, Moon, and planets (or navigator’s stars); the tabulations
are given in terms of Greenwich Civil Time. From this information a line of position can be
plotted.

In principle, the line could be drawn on a very large sphere, but, in practice, a Mercator chart, or
plotting sheet, is used. The navigator then uses a sextant or bubble octant to measure the
altitude of the celestial object and records this altitude using Greenwich Civil Time.

The navigator estimates his position, this being the dead-reckoning position. The altitude and
the bearing that the celestial object would have at this position are calculated or taken from
tables.

The dead-reckoning position is marked on the plotting sheet and a line drawn in the direction of
the celestial object’s calculated bearing. From this information and from the difference between
the observed and computed altitudes of the celestial object, known as the intercept, the
position of the navigator can be calculated.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/science/celestial-navigation
Marc Lou G. Apdian NE 13

Source: https://www.britannica.com/science/celestial-navigation