Signs: What the night sky tell us

Have you ever had the chance to stare at the night sky in total darkness, when nothing else can be seen?

While it may be the subject of poetry and nice pictures, to a natural navigator it serves as a calendar, a clock, a compass and a map all rolled into one.

Lets start with how we can use the night sky to find direction.

The Moon

You can't really miss the biggest object in the night sky. Every 29 and a half days, the moon goes through its regular cycle.

The different phases of the moon throughout the 29 day cycle

The crescent before the full moon is dark on the left side, while the crescent after the full moon is dark on the right side.

Tip #1 - A line from the horn of a high crescent moon extended to your horizon gives a rough indication of south.

Follow the line from the horn of the crescents down to the horizon and you get the direction of South

A short explaination. From the perspectivce of an observer on the surface of the planet, the sun and the moon travels along the same route on the horizon from east to west.  Imagine a race that starts on the first night of the new moon. Both the sun and the moon starts of at the beginning line on the east horizon at the same time. Since the moon's relative movement is slower than the sun, it lags behind by 12 degrees a day. The bright side of the moon always reflect where the sun is relative to the moon, either on its east or on its west. Hence the line connecting the horn of the crescent with the horizon is always the north-south line.

The Stars and Planets

Tip #2 - Orion sword points south

Stars, planets and constellations come and go from the Malaysian night sky, but Orion remains. Orion is the name of a great hunter in Greek mythology. The constellation (group of stars) look like a hunter holding a club and a shield/bow. Its quite easy to spot. I normally look for a straight row of the three brightest starts closely huddled together. This is called Orion's Belt.

Here's the tip. Extend a line from the tip of Orion's belt all the way to the horizon. Walk towards the point where this line touches the horizon. That will take you south.

Its easiest to spot the three stars in a straight line that make Orion's belt

Tip #3 - Finding Polaris, the North Star

To put it simply, Polaris is uniquely positioned on top of the North Pole. So wherever you are in the world, when you find Polaris the line between Polaris and you points North.  There are a few tricks to find this North Star.

To a natural navigator the night sky serves as a calendar, a clock, a compass and a map all rolled into one

3a. The Big Dipper

For some reason, I find this method the easiest when I was in the UK, but not so in Malaysia. First you need to find something that looks like a dipper (or a senduk in Malay).  Focus on the container and ignore the handle. Identify the two stars that would make liquid spill from the side if you turn the dipper on its handle. In a straight line five portions above will be Polaris. Walk towards the start if you want to go North.

Remember the Dipper, remember North Star

3b. The Cassiopeia

This constellation looks like an asymmetric W.  Imagine across the top of the W. Extend this line two lengths from the star at the middle of the W and you will find the North Star.

Extend a line two lengths of the W from the middle start

Tip #4 - Bintang Timur & Bintang Barat
I sailed overnight once with the son of a fisherman from Kemaman. As we crossed the bit of South China Seas from Sebana Cove to Tioman. He pointed out two the two brightest stars visible in the sky that night, Bintang Timur (East Star) and Bintang Barat (West Star) as the fishermen would call them. As it turns on, these are called Sirius in the east and planet Saturn in the west respectively.