What if we get lost at night in the wild and have no other tools to find a way? Don’t panic, at this time we can also use the stars in the night sky to help us distinguish the direction.
First we need to understand the North Star. As the name suggests, the North Star is a bright star in the northernmost part of the sky. It is very close to the North Sky Pole and is almost opposite the Earth's axis. Due to the rotation of the earth, the North Star is just on the axis of the rotation of the celestial sphere, so it is relatively motionless. From the northern hemisphere of the earth, its position is almost unchanged, so we can rely on it to distinguish the direction.
Arctic night sky time-lapse photography image
Then we also need to understand what the Big Dipper is. As the name suggests, the Big Dipper is composed of seven stars, forming the shape of a spoon. From the handle of the spoon to the mouth of the spoon are: Yaoguang , Kaiyang, Yuheng , Tianquan , Tiandi , Tianxuan , and Tianshuxing. In Taoism in our country, it is called Pojun , Wuqu, Lianzhen , Wenqu, Lucun , Jumen, and Tanlang.
Bitou Seven Stars
Then let’s try how to find Beidou Seven Stars and Polaris! The picture below shows the stars in the usual night sky. Let’s first observe where the Big Dipper is.
Stars in the night sky
When you find the Big Dipper, connect these seven stars with lines, and then you will find a very bright star on the extension line of the straight line between Tianxuan Star and Tianshu Star. The distance between this star and Tianshu star is about five times the distance between Tianxuan star and Tianshu star. This is the North Star. At this time, you can know the north through the North Star, and then the direction of the southeast, west and north.
Bitudal Stars and Polaris
