Introduction to Celestial Navigation
with Elbert "Ash" Ashbaugh | American Sailing
Learn the fundamentals of celestial navigation and improve your seamanship skills
90 Minutes
English
Unlimited Access
Have you ever been anchored at night and found yourself looking up at the sky, thinking, “How did the early sailors use the stars to travel the whole world?” Understanding the night sky can help you become a better navigator and sailor. After this online class, you will never look at a map the same way. This introductory class will help you get a better understanding of the science behind celestial navigation. It is also a fantastic first step for anyone interested in taking the ASA 107 Celestial Navigation course.
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Who is this online class for?
This introductory course is designed for all sailors and is intended to be an enjoyable and interesting exploration that will reveal your truly innate understanding of navigation. You will see how ancient people used the Sun and Stars and how insights and simple techniques have evolved through history. You will learn to understand Babylonian arithmetic, see how to use a sextant, know why the North Star isn’t, what allowed England to navigate the world, and how GPS works. Elbert Ashbaugh is a seasoned sailor and navigation teacher who believes that you should know the “why” as well as the “what”. This course provides the concepts and structure upon which you will eagerly anticipate your future navigation classes, even if they aren’t celestial.
List of Topics:
- Origins of constellations for navigation
- Early astrological events in human history
- 3 Basics of Navigation: location, direction, and distance
- Viking Sunstones
- Babylonian Astronomy & Arithmetic
- How a sextant works
- Using The Nautical Almanac
- Finding latitude using Polaris (or the Sun!)
- What does latitude have to do with nautical miles?
- How 17th-century navigators traveled the world using only latitude
- Why is longitude measured in time (hours, min, etc)?
- What is an analemma
- How a little patio in Greenwich, England became the center of the Earth's time tracking helping the British Navy control the world
- Using celestial navigation in an emergency
WHY LEARN CELESTIAL NAVIGATION
Backup to Modern Technology
GPS and electronic navigation systems can fail due to equipment malfunctions, signal loss, or power issues. In such cases, celestial navigation serves as a reliable backup method.
Maintaining Maritime Tradition
Celestial navigation is a time-honored skill that preserves the traditions and heritage of maritime exploration. It represents the techniques used by legendary navigators who charted unknown waters centuries ago.
SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Celestial navigation requires sailors to understand the principles of astronomy, timekeeping, and navigation. This fosters self-reliance and critical thinking, especially in situations where technological aids are unavailable.
Your Instructor
ELBERT "ASH" ASHBAUGH
El Ashbaugh is a Physicist and Computer Scientist who has sailed and taught sailing for over 30 years during his US and European career in high technology and management. Retired from Silicon Valley, he is the Director of Field Operations for American Sailing where he works worldwide coordinating ASA with the owners, instructors, and administrators in the sailing schools who all contribute to keeping the sailing education profession first rate.
