Chapter 1: Concepts of Celestial Navigation

Celestial Navigation is based on principles derived from Coastal Navigation.

1.1 Traditional Coastal Navigation

The method used depends on whether we can take a sight off several
land marks at a given moment (fig. 1.1), or whether we are restrained
to a single landmark and must use it to plot running fixes (fig. 1.2).

Ad
LO

va
P

nc
1
(0

ed
9:
00

LO
)

P
1
LOP 2
LO

(0
P

3 9:
1

LOP 30
)

LOP 2
Distance traveled
by the boat in 30 min

Fig. 1.1 Traditional fix, using three bearings on Fig 1.2 Running Fix (Advanced Line of Position),
three landmarks. using two bearings on a single landmark.

STAR

1.2 Celestial Navigation MOON PLANET

fP
The same techniques apply in Celestial Navigation; in this case, the C i r c l e o o s iti o n 3

Lines Of Position, or LOPs, are circles of usually very large diameter

GP Star
centered on the Geographic Position of the sun (see Section 1.3).
Sometimes, we can take concurrent sights on several stars and/or
GP Moon
planets and obtain our position at the intersection of two or three Circle
GP Planet
of Position 2
LOPs determined by the angle at which we see the celestial bodies Circle of Position 1

above the horizon (fig. 1.3). At other times, we are restricted to the
use of a single body, for instance the sun or the moon, in which case Fig 1.3 A fixed observer can directly use two
we need to take several sights at different times of the day (fig. 1.4). or three lines (circles) of position from different
celestial objects at the same time.
If the boat has moved between sights of a single celestial body, we
must advance the first LOP by the direction and distance traveled by LOP 1

the boat between the sights in order to obtain a running fix (fig. 1.5).
GP Sun
(8 a.m.)
ou by
9 h ed
rs
in ell

Sun 2 (4 p.m.) Sun 1 (9 a.m.)

at av

LOP 2 Advanced
bo ce tr
thestan
Di

GP Sun 2
(5 p.m.)
Advanced
GP Sun 1
GP Sun 2
(Hawaii) GP Sun 1
Circle
of Position 2
(Mexico)

Circle of Position 1 Fig. 1.5 A moving observer needs to advance the

first line (circle) of position by the distance traveled
Fig 1.4 A fixed observer can directly use two lines between the two observations, thus obtaining a
(circles) of position from the same object at different times. Running Fix.

5
Chapter 1: Concepts of Celestial Navigation

1.3 Determining the Geographic Position

nwic
h
of a Celestial Body
The Geographic Position (GP) of a celestial body at each
Gree

SUN

instant is the point on earth over which it is at that moment

(fig. 1.3).
'N
7.5

N
2 2˚ 5

Publications called Nautical Almanacs give, for each hour

Greenwich
Declination

SUN GP
of each day of the year, the exact coordinates of the GP of the
LAT N

sun, moon, major planets, and brightest stars on the celestial

LONG
W.
or sphere. A straight interpolation allows the calculation of
Equat
Celestial the coordinates of the main celestial bodies at any time in
GHA
58˚ 57.2' W
between (fig. 1.6).
S

In the Almanac, the coordinates of celestial objects are

given in terms of Greenwich Hour Angle (or GHA), the
equivalent of a longitude; and Declination (or Dec), the
equivalent of a latitude. The coordinates of the celestial
bodies on the celestial sphere, in degrees of Greenwich Hour
Angle and Declination, are the same as the coordinates of
Fig. 1.6 These celestial coordinates are their GP on the surface of the earth. The only difference is
equivalent to the ones on the surface of the earth that GHA is counted, very logically, from the Greenwich Meridian
(Lat. 22º 57.5' N, Long. 58º57.2' W).
towards the west, all the way around the earth up to 360°; a longitude,
by contrast, is either west or east of the Greenwich Meridian, to a
maximum of 180° (fig. 1.6).

For instance, the 2003 Almanac tells us that, on the 3rd of July of
that year, at precisely 16:00 UTC (Greenwich time), the sun Dec was
22° 57.5' N, and its GHA was 058° 57.2' (fig. 1.7; full table in Appendix
2, Almanac daily table for July 3, 4 and 5, p. A2-9). This means that,
at this precise moment, the sun was exactly above a point on earth
located at 22° 57.5' of Latitude North, and 058° 57.2' of Longitude
West. This is in the West Atlantic near the Tropic of Cancer, some
1,000 km NE of Puerto Rico. In other words, if our boat had been at
that spot, i.e. at the sun’s GP, we would have seen the sun exactly
overhead, at our zenith, i.e. at an altitude of 90° above the horizon.

The next day, in the morning of July 4 at 02:00 UTC, the sun’s
GHA was 208° 56.1' (Appendix 2, p. A2-9), and returning towards
Greenwich from the east. The longitude of its GP was then 360°
00.0' − 208° 56.1' = 151° 03.9' E.

Fig. 1.7 The Almanac provides the celestial

coordinates of the main Celestial Objects. For
instance, on July 3, at 16:00 UTC time, Dec for
the sun = 22º 57.5' N, and GHA = 058º 57.2'.

6
 Chapter 1: Concepts of Celestial Navigation

The same type of information is available for each of the celestial

objects listed in the Almanac: the sun, the moon, the four main In this manual, we will treat the
Almanac coordinates of the celestial
planets, and the 57 stars used for navigation. If our boat had been,
bodies, and in particular of the sun,
instead, in the Pacific Ocean off the shores of Vancouver Island, as if they were the geographical
we would have seen the sun at a lower angle H above the horizon. coordinates of those bodies’ GPs on
the surface of the earth. This greatly
simplifies the comprehension of the
method. We simply replace the centers
1.4 Plotting the Circles of Position of the stars and planets by small
around the GP lights on the surface of the earth, just
underneath each celestial body. For an
Since the earth is approximately spherical, we can tell how far we observer at the center of the earth, from
are from the Geographical Position or GP of a celestial body, which all measurements are made, the
i.e. from the point on earth where the body appears to be directly picture of the sky is the same.
overhead at the time of the sight. The altitude H (for Hauteur: We also treat the apparent movements
the notations are of French origin) of the celestial object over the of the celestial bodies across the
celestial sphere as if they were real.
horizon determines how far away we are from its GP. The further
In other words, we use the Ptolemy
away our boat is from the sun GP at that particular time, the smaller model of the universe, and assume
its altitude, i.e. the angle of the sun over the horizon (fig. 1.8). that the earth is at its center. Since all
movements are relative, the model that
If we measure this angle H with a sextant, it is relatively simple to we use to represent the various orbits
calculate how far away we are from the GP of the sun: this distance does not change the calculations or the
is the radius of our Circle of Position. On charts large enough to results, but the Ptolemy model makes
it considerably simpler to imagine the
cover most of the Pacific Ocean, and to include both our boat
movements. For instance, we will be
position and the sun’s GP, we could draw a circle around the sun’s referring to the revolution of the sun
GP with a radius corresponding to our calculated distance from the around the earth, when this movement
GP. This would give us a first circle of position: our boat would be is only apparent.
somewhere along the circle, centered on the GP, from which the sun
could be seen at this angle H above the horizon. Subsequent sights
of the sun would give us our position at the intersection of two or
three circles of position.
Ho
N
The drawback of this method is that it is not very precise: a chart Hc

on which we could plot both the boat and the GP of the sun would
Sun GP
necessarily be of such small scale, covering huge areas of the earth,
that our position would be quite approximate. If we were sailing
back from Hawaii to Victoria, for instance, the intersection of two
or three circles of position would probably not be precise enough to
tell us whether we were approaching the southern part of Vancouver
Island or the Northern part of the State of Washington.

Fig. 1.8 Circles of Position for various altitudes

H of a celestial object over the horizon. The further
away the observer is from the GP, the lower the
object’s altitude over the horizon.

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Chapter 1: Concepts of Celestial Navigation

1.5 The Marcq Saint Hilaire Solution

In 1874, an astute French naval commander, Adolph Laurent Anatole Marcq de Blond
de Saint Hilaire, thought of a way to avoid the problem of drawing circles of position
centered on the sun’s GP several thousand miles away. Instead of trying to draw the
whole circle of position, or at least the relevant sector of this circle, he had the idea of
assuming a position for the boat from Ded Reckoning (ded meaning deduced position,
using calculations from heading, speed and time), and calculating at what angle above
the horizon, and in what direction, the sun or other celestial bodies would be when
seen from this assumed position.

A navigator would then be able to compare this calculated altitude of the sun, Hc,
with Ho, the altitude observed with the sextant; this would tell him or her how far
off the boat was from its assumed position, either towards the sun or away from it. In
other words, Marcq Saint Hilaire used a differential method, measuring and plotting
small differences between calculated and measured angles, rather than an absolute
method, trying to draw a sector of the huge circle of position centered on the GP of
the sun (or any other celestial body).

1.6 Sight Reduction Tables

The Marcq Saint Hilaire method requires the use of Sight Reduction tables in order to
calculate the altitude of the sun at the assumed position. The simplest ones to use are
those published by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (U.S.), newly referred
to as Pub. No. 249 in North America, and AP 3270 in the UK. They were originally
prepared for air navigation in the early sixties by the Hydrographic Office, which
explains that they are still often known as H.O. 249.

Once the coordinates of the GP of a celestial object are calculated from the Almanac,
by interpolation to the nearest second for the precise time of the sight, the Sight
Reduction Tables in Pub. No. 249 allow the calculation of the angle of that object
above the horizon, and its bearing (direction) as seen from any assumed position on
earth. The Sight Reduction Tables cover a sector of the celestial sphere extending
from 30° N to 30° S of the equator, which includes the sun, the moon, the planets, and
some of the main stars.

Other Sight Reduction tables, such as H.O. 229, are specifically designed for marine
navigators; they cover the whole celestial sphere but are considerably bulkier. Together
with the concise Sight Reduction Tables at the end of the Nautical Almanac, however,
they are traditionally perceived as more difficult to use than those in Pub. No. 249.

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 Chapter 1: Concepts of Celestial Navigation

1.7 Angle at the Center of the Earth Sun

There is a direct relationship between the altitude of a celestial
object above the horizon (H) and the corresponding angle at the Alti
tude
red un
su S
center of the earth (90° − H, referred to as the Zenith Distance ea the
of

M
Sun GP 90°-H
ZD; see fig. 1.9). This angle at the center of the earth determines H

Ea
r th
Ho
r
the distance, on the surface of the earth, between the Geographical

i zo
n
Position of the celestial body, GP, and the boat. Our Line of Position
is this circle (fig. 1.10). The original definition of the Nautical Mile
was that one minute of angle at the center of the earth marked an
90°-H
arc of one nautical mile on the surface. The new definition relates
the nautical mile to the metric system: 1 NM = 1,852 m.

1.7.1 Example
Fig. 1.9 The angle at the Center of the Earth
Captain Cook took a sight on the sun, on June 21, 1769. From his
(90° − H) is equal to the Zenith Distance, i.e. 90°
Nautical Almanac, he knew that, at the time of the sight, the sun was minus the altitude (H) of the sun above the horizon.
over a point just east of Mazatlan, at Lat. 23° N, Long. 105° W. With
his sextant, he measured the altitude of the sun as Ho = 30° above
the horizon. What was the radius of the Circle of Position, centered
on the sun’s Geographic Position, on which his boat was located? N
Ho
Hc
Answer: The Zenith Distance is 90° − 30° = 60°.

His Circle of Position, centered on the sun’s GP in Mexico, has a Sun GP

radius of 60° x (60' per °) = 3,600 NM.

1.8 Calculation of the length of a segment of

Great Circle
The distance between two points on the surface of the earth can
be calculated directly without a sextant. While there are several S
formulae to determine the length of an arc of Great Circle between Fig. 1.10 The angle at the Center of the Earth
(90° − H) allows drawing a Circle of Position,
two points of coordinates Lat1, Long1 and Lat2, Long2, the most at least in theory.
traditional one is:

D (in NM) = ArcCos [(Sin Lat1 x Sin Lat2) + (Cos Lat1 x Cos Lat2 x Cos (Long2 − Long1))] x 60

In this formula, the angles of Lat. and Long. are in radians. Degrees
and minutes of angle can be converted into radians from the relation
1° = ( π / 180) radians = 3.1416 / 180 = 0.017 radian. Latitudes south
and longitudes west are identified with a minus sign. The notation
ArcCos is often represented as Cos−1

9
Chapter 1: Concepts of Celestial Navigation

In our example, we know from his diary that Captain Cook was near Tahiti, at Lat.
18° S, Long. 150° W. The calculations for the distance between his boat and the sun’s
GP look like this:

Lat1 = 23° N = 0.401426 radians; Sin Lat1 = Sin 0.401426 = 0.390731; Cos Lat1 = 0.920505
Lat2 = 18° S = −0.314159 radians; Sin Lat2 = Sin − 0.314159 = −0.309017; Cos Lat2 = 0.951057
Long2 − Long1 = 150° − 105° = 45° = 0.785398 radians; Cos (Long2 − Long1) = 0.707107

D (in NM) = ArcCos [(0.390731 x (−0.309017)) + (0.920505 x 0.951057 x 0.707107)] x 60

= ArcCos [−0.120743 + 0.619039] x 60
= ArcCos [0.498296] x 60
= 1.049164 radian x 60
= 60° x 60 = 3,600 NM

1.9 Navigation by latitude and the problem of longitudes

Long before Almanacs and Sight Reduction tables were produced, and even before the
sextant had been invented, mariners used to sail across seas and oceans by following a
constant parallel of latitude. They could do this simply by checking the sun at noon every
day, when it is highest over the horizon, or the polar star at dawn or dusk. Christopher
Columbus and Magellan, for instance, used this method to navigate. The method is
still used today (see Chapter 6, Latitude by Noon Sight, and Chapter 8, Approximate
Latitude from Polaris).

The determination of one’s longitude around the earth, however, had always eluded
navigators until fairly recently. One naturally tries to correlate the longitude of the boat
with the apparent movement of the sun or other celestial bodies around the earth, and
this requires a very accurate measure of time.

Since the sun appears to turn around the earth in a day (360° in 24 hours, or 15° per
hour), we could tell our position away from a reference meridian by noting the exact
moment at which the sun crosses the meridian of the boat: the time which the sun
takes to travel from the reference meridian to the meridian of the boat, at 15° per hour
westward, determines our longitude. The meridian of Greenwich was selected as the
international reference meridian in 1884.

For example, if the sun is highest over the meridian of our boat at 13:00 UTC (1:00 p.m.
Greenwich time) on a day when it crossed the meridian of Greenwich at 12:00, we are
one hour or 15° west of this reference meridian. If the sun is highest over our boat at
4:20 p.m., we are (4 + 1/3 h) x 15°/ h = 65° west of the meridian of Greenwich.

Navigators have been able to keep a precise track of time since the invention of the
chronometer at the end of the eighteenth century. Chapter 3 explains how time is
determined and measured, thus enabling us to determine our longitude.

10