After the sun sets, the stars come out! If you find yourself on a starry night without a compass, you are in luck!
During the day, you needed to set your watch to find North by using the hour hand on your watch, the “12” position on the face, and the knowledge of when “noon” occurs wherever you are on the Earth. By night, it is a lot simpler!
First, you have many stars in the sky which will tell you a wealth of information. One of the most important stars in the sky is Polaris, the North Star (which is the last star in the tail of the Little Dipper). This star is directly over the North Pole so if you draw an imaginary vertical line down to the horizon, that point is North.
Great, so if you want to go South, do you just turn your head around and keep looking back at Polaris?
Not exactly. Another useful constellation is Orion.
I personally have trouble seeing the entirety of Orion, but I can always seem to find his belt, and that is the important part!
The belt is easy to spot, as its three stars in an almost perfect line. The first start of the belt to rise above the horizon will rise over due East, and the last star to set in the belt and disappear behind the horizon will mark due West. These are handy because if you happen to spot the stars rising over the horizon, you can then have yourself a second cardinal point in the night sky (aside from North thanks to the North Star). Watching the stars set is easier in my opinion because you saw them all night and know where they are as they set instead of guessing which star is the first star of the belt to rise over the horizon.
While the belt gives you a direction at two small moments of the night, it does give you another good indication of South for the entire night. The “Sword” that hangs just below the belt is made up of what look like three stars, even though the middle one is actually a nebula. These three stars are in a perfect line and point roughly South.
I say roughly because there is a little wiggle room for error here. The “Sword” is most accurate when it is high in the night sky and perpendicular to the horizon. At this moment, South is a pretty well pointed area on the horizon. When the constellation is low to the horizon, like when it just rose or is setting, there is a bit of inaccuracy which makes it “roughly” South and not “due” South.
That said, if you don’t have a compass, being guided roughly South is better than
Not knowing which way you are going at all
Having to crane your neck around to see the North Star behind you
Being lost at sea as you sail in circles
The stars will guide you as you voyage across the sea, but do plan on having a compass that is in fine working order so that you don’t have to rely on the stars as your only form of navigation!
