Stellar Navigation (Finding Polaris)

I don't think many people know how to navigate using the stars. I know that there is a one in a million chance that you'd be stuck in the middle of nowhere and only have the stars to guide you.

I think its just something interesting to know which may, you never know, save your life. It's very simple. To find North you need to look for Polaris (The North Star). People usually think Polaris is very bright. It isn't actually. It is just surrounded by rather dim stars so it stands out a bit.

The first thing you have to do is look for a particular constellation called "The Big Dipper". It is also known as "Ursa Major". It looks like this:



Once you have found this constellation, you should line up the two stars at the end of the bowl part of the constellation. If you line them up and extend that line you should meet a star directly along its path that is brighter than its adjacent stars. This is Polaris. This star always points in the Northern direction.