How do we get ship’s position

by star sight ?
Written by Capt Rajeev Jassal on March 21, 2018

These days, there is an enormous amount of information

available on celestial navigation.

Which means there is also a lot of noise to sift through.

And when you do sift through it, you still have to answer
one question:
How do you apply all of this knowledge practically on
board the ship.

Talking specifically about star sight, there are tons of

resources that deals with the calculation part.

Be it Longitude by chronometer or intercept method

calculations.

Most of us know all these calculations but only that much.

But how can we use these to calculate the sight ?

In this post, I will show you step wise procedure to use

the star sight to calculate your position on board.

Let us start.

Basics of celestial sight

I have covered the basics of the celestial navigation in a

different article. You can read this article by clicking on
here.
And if you have read it you would know that celestial
navigation is based on calculation of zenith distance and
azimuth of the celestial body.
Zenith distance and altitude of the celestial body are inter-
related. Here is the relation.

Zenith distance + True Altitude = 90 Degrees.

All we want is True altitude of the celestial body which can

be calculated by measuring the altitude of the celestial
body by a sextant and applying few corrections to the
measured altitude by sextant.
I won’t go more deep into the calculations part. I assume
you already know that.
 Sextant altitude is measured by bringing the celestial body
on the user’s visible horizon and reading the altitude from
the sextant.

Here is a video that explains the use of sextant.

Step 1: Calculate the twilight time

So far so good. For measuring the sextant altitude two

things should be visible.

 Celestial body

 Horizon

But the issue with the star sight is that, stars are visible at
night and horizon is visible when there is daylight.

Or, when the horizon is clearly visible, there aren’t any

stars in the sky and when the stars are visible, the horizon
isn’t visible.

Then how do we measure the sextant altitude of the stars?

Nautical twilight is the time when some stars may be
visible and during the hours of twilight there is still some
daylight that horizon is visible too.
The name “Nautical twilight” is given because this is the
time when mariners can see both the horizon and stars
and is ideal for the star sight.

But how to know the time for the Nautical twilight?

The twilight time is given in the nautical almanac.

In the morning, the period from complete darkness to the

sunrise is divided into three twilights.
We are interested in the period of Nautical twilight.
With respect to times mentioned in the nautical almanac,
this would be the period between the time of “nautical
twilight” and “Civil twilight”.

So for morning star sights, we need to calculate the

nautical twilight time from the almanac. That would be the
time we need to start looking for the visible stars.

For the evening twilight, here is how the period from

sunset to complete darkness is divided.
So for evening twilight, can you guess what time you
should start looking for the stars for star sight?

Or in other words, what is the time for start of nautical

twilight?

Yes, you got it right !!!

Civil twilight time mentioned in the almanac is the time of

“end of civil twilight” and “start of the nautical twilight”.
 For evening star sights, this is the time we would be
interested in.

The twilight time given in the Almanac are LMT. This need
to be converted to the ship’s time so that we know at what
time (ship’s time) will be nautical twilight.

Let us say the DR position is

 Latitude: 25 degrees 00 Minutes (North)

 Longitude: 070 Degrees 00 Minutes (East)

Ship’s Time is: GMT + 5 Hours

Date: 19th January 2018, Evening star sight

From the Nautical Almanac, get the time of evening civil

twilight (start of Nautical twilight) for 25 degrees North.
You will need to interpolate as the times are for 20
degrees North and 30 degrees north. Here is the
calculation to calculate civil twilight time as per the ship’s
time.

So in this case we need to be ready with the sextant at

1720 Hrs ship’s time (1320 Hrs GMT) looking for the stars.

Step 2: Find the information on available

stars

If you see the time period of the nautical twilight (start

and end of nautical twilight) from the nautical almanac,
you would note it to be less than 30 minutes in most
cases.
 Ideally we would have around 10 minutes of the times to
take the sextant altitude of the stars.

If we don’t know where to look for in the sky, or which

star we are planning to measure the sextant altitude for,
we will never be able to take the star sight.

In other words, period of nautical twilight is never enough

to look for the stars, identify the star and measure
it’s sextant altitude.

Remember that we need identify at least three stars

separated perfectly from each other (close to 120 degrees
difference in azimuth) for a perfect star sight.

So what do we do?

We need to know before hand about

 Which stars would be available for star sight

 The stars we plan to use for the star sight

 Approx Azimuth of these stars so that we know which

direction to look for these stars
 Approx altitude of these stars so that we know how
high in the sky to look for these stars

This is where star finder (NP 323) is used to find this

information.

NP 323 (Star finder) consists of one sheet for the layout of

the stars. This sheet has two sides, one for Northern
hemisphere and other side for southern hemisphere.
It also consists of transparent templates for different
latitudes of the observer.
The instructions for use of star finder are clearly given on
the star finder sheet.
In a nutshell, here is what we need to do.

Calculate the LHA Aries for the time of observation. As we

discussed we need to take the star sight at start of
Nautical twilight. For evening sights this is Civil twilight
time in the Almanac.

Choose the transparent template nearest to the DR

latitude. So if our DR latitude is 27 degrees, we need to
choose 30 degrees template.

We need to place the transparent template on the star

finder sheet as per the instructions above.

The stars inside the web of lines are the stars that would
be visible to you at the time of nautical twilight.
 Now we need to choose the best 3 stars among these
stars.

What do we mean the best stars for star sight? The

criteria is

 The star need to a bright star so that it is easily

visible during the twilight, and

 The azimuth of the three chosen stars should form as

close equilateral triangle as possible

Let me explain these two points.

The brightness of the stars is denoted by different symbols

of the stars in the star finder.

All these stars are visible to the human eye but

considering that there isn’t complete darkness during
twilight, we must try to choose the stars with magnitude
2.0 or less (preferably with magnitude less than 1.0).
Apart from brightness of the stars, we also need to take
into account the azimuth of the stars.

We do not want to select stars with azimuth line parallel to

the other selected stars.

This is because then the position lines that we will get

from the star sight will be close to parallel to each other.
And that is not good for getting the position of the ship.

For example, in the below configuration star Vega and star

Altair both are bright stars but we cannot choose both of
these.
 This is because the azimuth of the Vega is 220 degrees
and azimuth of Altair is 230 degrees. Both of these stars
are separated by only 10 degrees.

If we choose these two stars the position lines that we will

get from these stars will be separted by only 10 degrees.

So if I have to pick three stars from the below, I would

pick

 Arcturus with Azimuth around 105 degrees

 Alioth with Azimuth around 160 degrees

 Vega with Azimuth around 220 degrees

Apart from azimuth, we also need to note down the
approx altitude of the selected star.

For example in below picture, the approx altitude of Vega

is 55 degrees.
So with the help of star finder (NP 323), we will be able to
choose three stars that we need for star sight.

Also we will have the approx azimuth and altitude of these

stars.

Step 3: Find the selected stars in the sky

Now we know the stars we need to star sight and its

location in the sky. So when the nautical twilight starts, be
ready with the sextant to measure the altitude of the
selected stars as these become visible.
Keep on looking in the direction the azimuth of the
selected star. For example from the bridge wing gyro
repeater, look where is 105 degrees.

The star Arcturus will be visible in this direction.

But then the question is, how high in the sky to look for
this star ?

You can get this information by measuring the sky with

your fist. Height of one fist is equal to 10 degrees of
altitude.
So for star Arcturus (approx altitude 60 degrees), start
from the horizon (in the direction of 105 degrees bearing)
and measure height of 6 fist. This is where this star would
appear.

Do same for other two stars and get to know the

approximate position where you would expect the star to
appear.

Now keep on looking closely in these three locations in the

sky and measure the sextant altitude of the star as soon
as the star appear.

Step 4: Measure the sextant altitude

Before you get ready for measuring the sextant altitude,

get to know the “Index error” of the sextant. (I am not
eleborating on the sextant errors in this post).
Now as you see your selected stars in the sky, measure its
altitude by sextant.

Do not forget to note down the exact time of measuring

the sextant altitude. Inaccuracy in noting down the time
can cause error in final position of the ship.
 Step 5: Calculate the position line and
position through which to draw it

It’s calculation time now.

For each observation, calculate the position line. For star

sights, intercept methodis preferred for calculations.
With the intercept method, we get by calculations
 the intercept (towards azimuth or away from
azimuth)

 Azimuth

 Position line (90 degrees from the azimuth)

We already know the DR position of the ship. With these

values we can plot the position line on the chart.

Let us say that for star Arcturus, we got

 Intercept : 1.0 NM towards azimuth

 Azimuth : 108 degrees

 Position line will be 018 degrees – 198 degrees

We just need to know from where to draw this position
line. From the DR position we need to draw azimuth line
and cut the intercept of 1 NM.

If the intercept was 1.0 NM away we would need to draw

the azimuth line in the opposite direction and cut 1NM
mile on this line.

The position line will be 90 degrees from the azimuth at

the point of intercept that we cut. It would look something
like this.
This is how the position line looks in theory.

But in reality when taking star sights on board, we need to

plot this on the chart with all the lines (azimuth, intercept
etc) to the measurement.

This is how we need to plot the position line on the chart.

Similarly, we need to draw the position lines obstained
from the celestial observation of other two stars on the
chart.

The position where all the three position lines would meet
is the position of the ship obtained from the star sight.

This is how this star sight plotted on the chart may look
like.
Just use the parallel ruler for reading the position you just
obtained from the star sight.

And congradulations !!! You are a true navigator now.

What’s more, we have developed a sight calculator for you

to easily calculate and understand the calculation part.
Just input all the values and click on the “Calculate sight”
and it will calculate the sight instantly.

Conclusion
The irony with celestial navigation is that everyone
teaches the easiest part which is the sight calculations.

But how to use all those calculations practically on borad

to get the ship’s position remains unanswered.

With regard to star sight, we need to know the stars that

we would use for the sight much bofore the actual sight.

This can be done by using the star finder NP 323 and

getting the picture of the available stars at the time of star
of nautical twilight.

From the available stars, we need to choose the best three

stars. Best stars for star sight does not always mean
brighter stars.

Apart from the brightness, the position lines obtained from

these three stars should be separated by some angle
(ideally by 60 degrees).

We can know this by knowing the approximate azimuth of

the choosen stars from the star finder.

Once we have choosen the stars for star sight, we need to

measure the sextant altitude of these stars once these
appear on the sky.
Rest is the calculation part with which we get the position
line and intercept values.

Finally we need to plot these position lines on the chart to

get the celestial fix of the position.
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About Capt Rajeev Jassal

Capt. Rajeev Jassal has sailed for over 19 years mainly on crude oil, product and
chemical tankers. He holds MBA in shipping & Logistics degree from London. He has
done extensive research on quantitatively measuring Safety culture onboard and safety
climate ashore which he believes is the most important element for safer shipping.
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19 Comments

Amit chandel
Mar 21, 2018
Sir, U made it in so simple language that there is no margin for doubt..
I don't think there would be any easy explanation like this.. It really
clarifies the doubt iam having and hope so for other also it will be
helpful.. Thanx again sir for ur effort.. Blessings for u...
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Mar 21, 2018
Glad you found it useful Amit...
Reply

Abhishek Kumar
Mar 22, 2018
Thanks a lot sir.
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Mar 24, 2018
Thanks Abhishek...
Reply
Ivan
Mar 26, 2018
Capt. Rajeev. May God bless you for all your kindness in sharing your
easy to understand articles. You're the best Sir. Waiting for more
articles from you.
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Mar 31, 2018
Glad you liked it Ivan...
Reply

bobjames
Mar 27, 2018
Thank you capt for sharing your knowledge with us. It is such a nice
blog. These are the keys which we can get from you.
https://yachtcharteruae.wordpress.com/2017/11/06/make-it-grand-
celebrate-your-birthday-on-a-yacht-this-year/
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Mar 31, 2018
Thanks Bob...
Reply

Eric
Mar 30, 2018
This is what i have been waiting for. Some other says this now not so
important due to high technology on ships nowadays. But for me it is
good also to know have a knowledge in celestial navigation.
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Mar 31, 2018
Thanks Eric...Celestial navigation is as important as other aspects of
navigation...
Reply

Dmitry
Mar 31, 2018
Thanks Capt!! your articles are very useful and in simple language!
Reply

Rajeev Jassal
Apr 3, 2018
Glad to hear that Dmitry...
Reply

Shahbaaz Ahmad
Apr 3, 2018
Thnx alott sir..ur explanation is simply superb...by reading ur blogs it
helps me alot..please make a blog on topic gyrocompass n magnetic
compass. these two topics are really difficult to understand. eagerly
waiting sir.
Reply
Rajeev Jassal
Apr 3, 2018
Glad you found it useful Shahbaaz... I will write on Gyrocompass and
magnetic compass...
Reply

Lorenz B. Calvo
Apr 25, 2018
Vivid explanation. Im also reading your article basics of draft survey.
Thank you Capt.
Reply

Vinay Kumar singh

Apr 26, 2018
Sir thanks for explaining sextant and it’s use and calculation in very
simple language..nobody can explain better than this ..
Reply

Ashutosh Kumar
Apr 30, 2018
It was wonderful article, self explanatory. Can you please elaborate on
why do we normally use intercept method for star sight calculation and
what are the method of finding stars if star finder is unavailable
onboard. Thanks in advance sir.
Reply

Manjeet
May 1, 2018
Q1. Why we don't use long by chron method in star sight? Q2. Which
is best method to take morning sight intercept or long by chron? Q3.
Moon sight explain? And thanks for explaining, not only for star sight
even all yours blogs. Thanks alot
Reply

Abhishek
May 3, 2018
Thanks a lot sir. What about the Run of the ship during sight interval
and can we fix position with 2 observations?
Reply