alfosco/Lightning Talk

## Lightning Talk
Intro
-What do you do when the technology you depend on fails you? Today we rely on apps to help us navigate the roads and fancy gps watches to navigate the wilderness. But what do you do when you lose signal, your battery runs out, or you lose your navigation device?

-There are 58 stars that are widely used for celestial navigation. You only need to know a few of them though to identify the cardinal directions and re-orient yourself.

Polaris
-At night, in the Northern Hemisphere, the easiest star to identify and navigate with is Polaris, also known as the North Star. Polaris sits almost exactly on the line of Earth's axis of rotation. It's within one degree of true north.  This means it is the only object in the night sky that doesn't move, and it will always point North.

How do you find the North Star?
-Polaris is a part of the constellation Ursa Minor, known as the Little Dipper. It is the last star on the handle of the Little Dipper. This constellation isn't always easy to identify in the night sky. Ursa Major, aka the Big Dipper is commonly used to point navigators towards the North Star. To do this, identify the two stars that make up the edge of the cup, opposite the handle, of the Big Dipper. Draw a line up from the bottom of the cup through these stars, roughly five times the distance bewtween these two stars, and it will point directly to Polaris. Keep in mind the Big Dipper will rotate counter-clockwise throughout the night but it will still always point directly at Polaris.

-If the Big Dipper is not visible yet in the sky use the constellation Cassiopeia to point you towards Polaris. Cassiopeia has five stars and is shaped like the letter W. The midpoint of Cassiopeia’s W points directly at Polaris.

-Polaris will always be located between the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia. When you identify it and are looking at it, North will be directly in front of you, South directly behind you, East directly to your right, and West to your left.

The Sun
-The Sun is great asset to have when navigating during the day.
-Rise East, set West. (Spring and Fall)
-Rise Northeast, set Northwest (Summer).
-Rise Southeast, set Southwest (Winter).

-Stick Method. How do you navigate during the day when the Sun is in the middle of the sky? The Sun rises in the East and sets in the West, and because of this, we know that the shadow cast by the Sun reaches West up until high noon, and then up until the time the Sun sets, the shadow reaches East.
-Put a stick in the ground vertically and mark the top of the shadow it makes with a rock. Wait 15 minutes and mark the new shadow with another rock. Then draw a line from one rock to the other. This will give you the direction of East to West. Draw another line perpendicular through the middle of this and you have your North/South line. The Moon also moves from East to West so this technique can also be used at night during a full moon.

Conclusion
-Humans have been using these methods to navigate for centuries. They are simple methods to help you identify the cardinal directions from where you are located. They can be used to direct you to a trail, road, river, or any landmark that will further help you find your way. These skills can be paired with many other navigational techniques to make your calcations more precise, and allow you to ultimately navigate independant of your GPS.
	Intro
	-What do you do when the technology you depend on fails you? Today we rely on apps to help us navigate the roads and fancy gps watches to navigate the wilderness. But what do you do when you lose signal, your battery runs out, or you lose your navigation device?

	-There are 58 stars that are widely used for celestial navigation. You only need to know a few of them though to identify the cardinal directions and re-orient yourself.

	Polaris
	-At night, in the Northern Hemisphere, the easiest star to identify and navigate with is Polaris, also known as the North Star. Polaris sits almost exactly on the line of Earth's axis of rotation. It's within one degree of true north. This means it is the only object in the night sky that doesn't move, and it will always point North.

	How do you find the North Star?
	-Polaris is a part of the constellation Ursa Minor, known as the Little Dipper. It is the last star on the handle of the Little Dipper. This constellation isn't always easy to identify in the night sky. Ursa Major, aka the Big Dipper is commonly used to point navigators towards the North Star. To do this, identify the two stars that make up the edge of the cup, opposite the handle, of the Big Dipper. Draw a line up from the bottom of the cup through these stars, roughly five times the distance bewtween these two stars, and it will point directly to Polaris. Keep in mind the Big Dipper will rotate counter-clockwise throughout the night but it will still always point directly at Polaris.

	-If the Big Dipper is not visible yet in the sky use the constellation Cassiopeia to point you towards Polaris. Cassiopeia has five stars and is shaped like the letter W. The midpoint of Cassiopeia’s W points directly at Polaris.

	-Polaris will always be located between the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia. When you identify it and are looking at it, North will be directly in front of you, South directly behind you, East directly to your right, and West to your left.

	The Sun
	-The Sun is great asset to have when navigating during the day.
	-Rise East, set West. (Spring and Fall)
	-Rise Northeast, set Northwest (Summer).
	-Rise Southeast, set Southwest (Winter).

	-Stick Method. How do you navigate during the day when the Sun is in the middle of the sky? The Sun rises in the East and sets in the West, and because of this, we know that the shadow cast by the Sun reaches West up until high noon, and then up until the time the Sun sets, the shadow reaches East.
	-Put a stick in the ground vertically and mark the top of the shadow it makes with a rock. Wait 15 minutes and mark the new shadow with another rock. Then draw a line from one rock to the other. This will give you the direction of East to West. Draw another line perpendicular through the middle of this and you have your North/South line. The Moon also moves from East to West so this technique can also be used at night during a full moon.

	Conclusion
	-Humans have been using these methods to navigate for centuries. They are simple methods to help you identify the cardinal directions from where you are located. They can be used to direct you to a trail, road, river, or any landmark that will further help you find your way. These skills can be paired with many other navigational techniques to make your calcations more precise, and allow you to ultimately navigate independant of your GPS.