Navigation Articles

The Science Of Navigation

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Clearly, navigation is a science. It involves using precise measurements and tools to determine the position and direction of anything on or above the earth's surface. Whether it's you, your car or a ship, an aircraft, or a missile, determining the location of the objects and charting their course to arrive at the destination safely is the objective of navigation. But navigation doesn't involve knowing the science behind it but also needs a lot of experience in the field as well as good judgment.

Navigation begins with knowing your position at a certain point or location. You have to know certain landmarks in order to guide yourself within that certain area. There are a lot of tools available.

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Maps, nautical charts or aeronautical charts are examples of guides that will help people pilot themselves in and out of a particular location. Now maps often depict areas that are commonly found on the surface of the earth, for example road maps. Charts, on the other hand, are often used on sea and in the air. Charts don't indicate objects on the surface but rather view them as obstacles that must be avoided.

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Aside from maps, also available to assist in navigation, is a compass. A compass can help a person orient himself against a map or a chart. This small tool is essential to determine the bearings of landmarks and for keeping a steady direction of travel.

Yet another indispensable tool is the sextant. This tool basically measures the angle of stars above the horizon which assist in determining landmarks and directions. It can also be used to measure the angle between two terrestrial landmarks.

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Although landmarks are important in navigation, sometimes there are just no visible landmarks to go by. With this, the method called dead reckoning is used by a navigator. Basically, what the navigator does is to deduce his position by advancing their current position on a chart using their known course, speed and time of travel.

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Most commonly used in ships and aircrafts, by compensating for the effect of winds or currents the navigator can estimate his position.

Also used is a navigation technique called celestial navigation. This method of measuring position is based on the current location of the sun, moon, stars and planets. Navigators refer to these celestial bodies as reference points.

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There are certain constellations, for example, which show up fixed in the night sky. Navigators used them as their landmarks to get them to where they are going and to bring them back to their homes. However, celestial navigation does require some equipment which includes the chronometer and a nautical almanac.

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Ainuddin Mohamad is the Webmaster of the Online Reading Center at http://onlinereadingcenter.com which features online reading resources.