Instructor’s Guide

Subject: Celestial Navigation

Topic: Celestial sphere and equinoctial system of co-
ordinates

ILOs: At the end of the session the student

should be able to :

1. Describes the celestial sphere;

2. Explains the apparent annual motion of the
sun and the concept of the ecliptic;
3. Defines 'celestial poles', 'celestial meridians',
'equinoctial' and the 'obliquity of the ecliptic’;
4. Defines 'celestial poles', 'celestial meridians’,
5. 'equinoctial' and the 'obliquity of the ecliptic’;
6. States that the equinoctial as a fixed reference
plane and the direction of the First Point of Aries as
a reference direction (ignoring the effect of
precession);
7. Describes the equinoctial system of co-ordinates
and defines sidereal hour angle, declination and
polar distance;
8. Extracts information from the star diagrams in the
nautical Almanac or equivalent star finding device;
 Celestial
Sphere

The celestial
sphere is
an imaginary
sphere with
the earth at its
center.
Apparent Annual Motion of the Sun