NAV4 Lesson 1

• Celestial navigation


  Navigating a vessel by observing the positions of celestial bodies in the sky

  
• Navigation by stars has been the oldest and the most conventional way of navigating in the vast oceanic expanse
• Technological advancements such as marine radars and ECDIS might have enabled and provided far more pin-point precision than star navigation contemporarily
• Celestial navigation was one of the highlights of the ancient maritime era
• Calculating and tabulating positions by way of the celestial objects

  1. Understand the correlation between the angle of the object and its horizon with the vessel

  2. Use devices like the sextant and reference manuals like the nautical almanac

  
• Universe


  All of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy
• Apparent motion of the celestial bodies

  • Apparent rotation of the celestial sphere that results in the Sun and stars rising in the east and setting in the west

  
• Composition of the solar system

  • Sun
  • 8 (formerly 9) planets
  • About 170 known planetary satellites (moons)
  • Countless asteroids, some with their own satellites
  • Comets and other icy bodies
  • Vast reaches of highly tenuous gas and dust known as the interplanetary medium
• Inferior planets


  Planets which lie closer to the Sun than the Earth (Mercury and Venus)
• Superior planets


  Planets which lie further from the Sun than the Earth (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune)
• Inferior planets


  • Mercury
  • Venus
• Superior planets


  • Mars
  • Jupiter
  • Saturn
  • Uranus
  • Neptune
• Correctly calculating and tabulating positions by way of the celestial objects

  1. Understand the correlation between the angle of the object and its horizon with the vessel

  2. Use devices like the sextant

  3. Use reference manuals like the nautical almanac

  4. Calculate the required position of the vessel

  5. Steer the vessel accordingly
• Universe


  All of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy
• Solar system


  Assemblage consisting of the Sun—an average star in the Milky Way Galaxy—and those bodies orbiting around it: 8 (formerly 9) planets with about 170 known planetary satellites (moons); countless asteroids, some with their own satellites; comets and other icy bodies; and vast reaches of highly tenuous gas and dust known as the interplanetary medium
• Apparent Motion

  A) Earth's Rotation

  B) West

  C) East

  D) East

  E) West

  F) 15