ELEC-A4930 - Astronomical View of the World, Lecture, 9.1.2024-9.4.2024

A. Explain, in your own words, at least four (and more if you are feeling frisky) ways of finding direction (north, south, east, west) using celestial observations of some sort. Looking for ant's nests and moss on trees might help in real life, too, but will not get you any points in this task.

Let's assume that you are lost in an isolated location somewhere in Finland, and you do not have a compass, mobile phone, GPS device, electricity etc. You do have a watch and a flash light. You may need to find your direction at night or during the day. The length of time you need for determining the direction is not restricted, but explain how it effects your measurements and your chances of getting back home in time for dinner.

B. What if you don't know where you are (never mind how you got in such a mess); all you know that you are somewhere on planet Earth. How does this affect finding direction?

C. What if you are lost (floating) on planet Uranus? How does this affect finding direction?