How stars guide us in travelling, write-ups by club members

Some members of our club wrote articles on How stars guide us in travelling. Here they are:

This article  below is written by Fatima Salman. 

To travel by using the help of stars, I think we need to understand the stars first. We’d need to know which star appears when, which stars are moving, and which stars can help us find the way. (This whole subject is called astronomy). Once we can understand the stars, we can travel by their help.

For example, if I have to go to a certain place by the help of stars, first, I’ll have to locate which star is directly above the place I want to reach. I can travel by following that star and reach exactly the place below that star.

I read a book called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and in that book, caravans are crossing the huge Egyptian desserts with the help of stars. Although that was just a story, people do actually travel by the help of stars. In fact, sailors use stars as their guide to find the way.

These days, this way of travelling isn’t very common and people hardly know about it. But it is important to know how people used to live and travel centuries ago. The most important thing is that we should learn about these natural things that God created millions of years ago.

The article below is written by Isam Hanif Majeed.

Finding direction using the stars is much quicker and easier than using a compass. It is also a lot more fun. All we need do is find a star that is directly above the place we need to get to and it will point exactly the right direction for us. Well the problem is that a few minutes later that star would have moved and so you would need a new one. Fortunately there is one star in the night sky that does not appear to move. It is called Polaris, or the North Star.The easiest method for finding the North Star is by finding the ‘Plough’, an easy to identify group of seven stars. It is known as the ‘Big Dipper’ to the Americans and the ‘saucepan’ to many others. The ‘Plough’ rotates anti-clockwise about the North Star, so it will sometimes appear on its side or even upside down. However its relationship with the North Star never changes and it will always dependably point the way to it. The reason the North Star is so important for natural navigation is that it sits directly over the North Pole. Having found the North Star, there is something about its height above the horizon that is well worth knowing. Wherever you are in the northern hemisphere, the North Star will be the same angle above the horizon as your latitude. The only three bright stars that form a short straight line in the whole night sky rise very close to due east and set very close to due west. If you want to be really accurate then the first star in the belt to rise and set, called Mintaka, will always rise and set within one degree of true east and west wherever you are in the world. So this is how you can find your way by the help of stars.

The article below is written by Kenza, (online member).

Tracking your way with the stars is an easy, as well as exciting way to find your destination. Many people used to track their way with the stars when they went on sea voyages or walked through the desert at night. Over many, many years, the stars die out and new stars take their place – making new constellations.

To track your way with a star, you need someone at your destination to tell you the star directly above them. Then, you have to follow that star in under a minute to your destination, before the star moves again.

So, due to the Earth’s rotation, the stars will always keep moving around. Except for one star, Polaris (aka, the North Star) which always stays in the same place and faces north. Polaris is located fairly near to Ursa Major (aka, the Big Dipper).

Ursa Major is a constellation of seven bright stars and makes a shape that looks similar to a plough or a saucepan. You need to look at the base of Ursa Major – the bit that looks like a cup – and look further, five times its length and that’s where Polaris should be located. Once you have done that, you would know that Polaris faces north, so go in the direction you want, whether it’s north, east, south or west!

Here’s a link to an interesting article about how to navigate using the stars! http://www.naturalnavigator.com/find-your-way-using/stars