Directions - Night
The moon also rises in the East.
The moon also sets in the West
Stand with your right hand pointing to where the moon rises, and your left hand to where the moon sets.
You are facing approximately North.
South is in back of you.
Now you can find North day or night.
Except… what if you’re in a place you’re not familiar with, and you can’t determine where the moon rises or sets, because there is no moon that night?
Use the stars.
It is fun to get a star atlas and take a year or so and figure out what all the arcane constellations are supposed to look like, and when they appear in the night sky at various times of the year, except it’s a little different for each latitude, so what I see at night is not exactly what my friend in Oregon sees at night. So forget that. Here’s all you really need to know….
Just learn to recognize the Big Dipper in a setting where you know where North is. It is the constellation that circles the North Star, Polaris, as the Earth turns all night. See the illustration.
How to Find North
Find the two stars that make up the side of the cup that does not have the handle.
With your fingers, measure approximately 4 times the distance between those two stars, where you’ll find one star brighter than the ones around it. That is Polaris, the North Star.
Okay, what if it’s cloudy or foggy at night, and you can’t see the moon, much less the stars? Or a very cloudy day when you can’t really tell which direction the sun is? Or you’re in a cave. Or…
I’m sorry, but in that case you’ll need a compass.
Not a big deal. Put a compass on a flat surface. The moving pointer will settle on a direction in a couple of seconds and point North. Face North, and you know that East is on your right, and West is on your left, and South is in back of you. That’s all there is to it. The only thing is, you have to have one to be able to use your new skill. You can buy one at most big box stores around the camping section. Doesn’t have to be an expensive one. Cracker Jack boxes used to occasionally contain one as a prize, and they actually worked well enough.
Oh, while we’re at it, might as well tell you how to make one. Get a sewing needle and stroke it from eye to point 100 times with a silk cloth or (much better) a little magnet. Or a big magnet, whatever you can find. Fill a plastic, not metal, cup with some water. It would be nice if the cup were just a little bigger diameter than than length of the needle. Float the needle on the surface tension of the water. Putting a little oil on top of the water helps. Eventually, the needle will stop moving and the eye of the needle will point North, assuming you are in America.
Most maps are oriented with North at the top of the map, West to the left, East to the right, South toward the bottom of the map.
Now you have a good chance of reading it correctly, and getting to where you want to go.
