Introduction

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Celestial navigation is the art and science of finding one's geographic position by means of astronomical observations, particularly by measuring altitudes of celestial objects − sun, moon, planets, or stars.


Venus Transit

Venus Transit 2012-06-06

Photo Copyright © 2012 H. Umland



This website provides a compact manual I wrote for mariners, surveyors, globetrotters, outdoorsmen, students, and other people interested in navigation, earth sciences, and astronomy:

A Short Guide to Celestial Navigation
Copyright © 1997−2019 Henning Umland


The e-book is published unter the terms and conditions of the GNU Free Documentation License. It is intended for readers familiar with the fundamentals of geography, algebra, and geometry. In particular, the trigonometric functions should be known. Everything else is explained in the text.

The document is available as a pdf file (size of zip archive: 7.4 mb, md5sum: 2c466d5c830f47414a8c3abe0d85e48d, updated March 15th, 2019). To download it, click HERE.

About once or twice a year, I review the manual, correct errors if necessary, and add new information if available. Therefore, it may be a good idea to check this site for updates from time to time.

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