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Celestial Navigation
Celestial Navigation is navigation by observation of the positions of celestial bodies, inclusive
of the sun, moon, planets and certain stars. Since the beginnings of recorded history, the
human race has been finding its way, in some cases over long distances, by observing the
relative positions of the sun, the moon and the stars. Early practitioners navigated the sands
of the African deserts and oceans between the islands of the South Pacific with nothing
more than the stars to guide them. Over time, navigational tools and methodology evolved
allowing sailors to reliably find their way across the world's oceans (and return home) and,
eventually, the relative position and orientation of various constellations gave way to
mathematical (sight reduction) calculation of position based on the use of specific stars or
planets. The advent of air travel brought new challenges to long range navigation. Early
long-range aircraft were often fitted with an astrodome, a "bubble" which protruded from
the fuselage, in which a navigator could use a hand-held octant to "shoot" the stars. With
the advent of the periscopic sextant, the astrodome became redundant, and further
refinements to the instrument, such as a bubble to replace (and eliminate the need for) a
visible horizon gave the sextant more versatility. In time, the accuracy to which a skilled
navigator could determine their position over the earth's surface, using only the heavenly
bodies, improved tremendously.
With the advent of Inertial NavigationSystems (INS) and long range navigation aids such as
LORAN-C and Omega, the use of celestial navigation declined and, with the introduction of
the Global PositioningSystem (GPS), its use in aviation virtually ceased. However, there has
been a training resurgence in celestial navigation techniques by a number of world's military
organizations as, unlike GPS, celestial navigation is not vulnerable to satellite destruction,
cyber-attack, electromagnetic pulse or system failure. This article is intended to serve as an
introduction to the concepts, terms and methodology associated with celestial navigation.