How to tell the time and direction at night

Polaris is usually used to determine direction at night. Looking for Polaris, we must first find Ursa Major (commonly known as the Big Dipper), because it always keeps a certain position relationship with Polaris and keeps spinning. After the Big Dipper was found, it extended to the spoon mouth along the connecting line of two stars A and B on the spoon side, which was about five times the distance between the two stars A and B, and there was a brighter star, namely Polaris.

In the area south of 40 degrees north latitude, the Big Dipper often rotates below the horizon, especially at dusk in winter, which is often invisible. At this time, we should look for the North Star according to the Hou Xian constellation opposite the Big Dipper. Hou Xian constellation consists of five stars with brightness similar to that of the Big Dipper, forming a "W" shape. In front of the middle of the W-shaped gap, about twice the width of the whole gap, you can find the Polaris.

In the area south of 23 degrees north latitude, you can use the Southern Cross to determine the direction of the first half of the year. The Southern Cross is mainly composed of four bright stars connected diagonally to form a cross. It extends downward along the connecting line between two stars A and B, and it is located due south, which is about four and a half times the distance between the two stars.

You can also use the moon to determine the direction at night. The moon rises and sets regularly. The moon rises 48-50 minutes later than the previous day. For example, on the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar 18, the moon rises in the east. On the twentieth day of the lunar calendar, the distance is 5 days, it rises about 4 hours later and appears in the eastern sky at about 22: 00. The phase change of the "full moon" is also regular. Before the fifteenth lunar month, the bright part of the moon is on the right, and after the fifteenth, the bright part of the moon is on the left. The first half of the month is the first quarter moon, the middle of the month is the full moon, and the second half is the second quarter moon. Every month, the moon rises and falls according to the above two laws, and its orientation is determined by the moon.

In addition, according to the law of the moon's rotation from east to west, it takes about 12 hours, with an average rotation of about 15 degrees. Combined with the moon phase, position and observation time at that time, the direction can be roughly determined. For example, at night 10, when you see the moon in the night sky on the right side, you can judge that it is the first quarter moon, the sun sets at 6 o'clock and the moon is due south; At this time 10-6: 00 = 4: 00, that is, four hours have passed, and the moon has rotated during this period 15× 4 = 60. Therefore, if the position of the moon is deflected 60 degrees to the left (east) at this time, it is due south.

In nature, the wind can also help us know the direction. Such as wooden pillars, the windward side is dark and perishable, while the windward side of cliffs and stones is smooth. But you must be familiar with the prevailing local wind direction, which is especially important in desert areas.

Wind is an important factor in shaping the surface morphology of desert land, and crescent dunes and dune chains are generally dominant in a single wind direction area. The windward slope of sand dunes and ridges is gentle; Leeward side with steep slope. In the northwest, due to the prevailing northwest wind, sand dunes generally form from northwest to southeast. The northwest slope of sand dunes is small and the sand is hard, while the southeast slope is large and the sand is soft. Under the action of northwest wind, plants in desert areas, such as butter grass, red willow, Haloxylon ammodendron and camel thorn, tilt to the southeast. The door of a yurt usually faces the southeast of the leeward side. In winter, many snow ridges and sand ridges are often formed near hay, with a big head and a small tail, and the direction pointed by the head is northwest.

These are the general characteristics of desert areas. The wind direction also varies with different regions and seasons. Therefore, judging the direction according to the characteristics of wind direction, we should refer to the local military geography at ordinary times and understand the prevailing wind direction in four seasons in order to get the correct judgment. It should also be noted that pyramid-shaped sand dunes will appear in areas with multiple wind directions and similar winds. It is complicated to determine the direction in this respect, and it is necessary to refer to the comprehensive determination of the sun, moon and stars.

It is worth mentioning that it is well known that "independent trees usually have dense branches and leaves in the south and sparse branches and leaves in the north." "The annual ring of the stump of an independent tree is usually small in the north and small in the south." , but it is actually much more complicated. 1945 m beria Foucault of the former Soviet union pointed out after systematic observation: "You can't judge the direction by the branches and rings of trees. Lush leaves are usually not in the south, but on the other side of free space. As far as independent trees are concerned, besides sunshine, wind and other factors also have great influence, so judging the direction is often unreliable. Similarly, even the annual rings of independent trees are not necessarily wide in the south; It is not only the sun but also the wind that affects the width of the rings. In addition, the width of the annual rings varies vertically, and cutting trees at different heights will get different results. " According to field observation, beria's view is reasonable. For example, the independent trees in Helan Mountain Valley in Ningxia are influenced by perennial winds and westerly winds, and all branches and leaves face east, not south.

When using natural features to determine the orientation, we should pay special attention to the specific analysis of the specific situation and avoid copying it mechanically. When determining the direction, we must pay attention to the comprehensive use of various methods to complement each other and verify each other. China has a vast territory, and the natural conditions in different regions are very different. On the basis of mastering the same laws of * * *, we should also pay attention to the special laws of various regions in order to draw a correct judgment.

What if I get lost?

When traveling in the wild, the original road disappears, or the route is not determined at the beginning, only looking at the terrain and orientation, and the result is that you can't find the location, which makes you lost.

When you find yourself lost, don't panic and change your measures. You should stop immediately, calmly recall the road you have traveled, try to reposition yourself according to all possible signs, and then find your way. The most reliable way is to "get lost", follow your own steps back to the original starting point, and don't blindly bump into it. It sometimes takes a lot of determination to go back to the original route. In particular, it takes more courage and perseverance to make a temporary decision to change course and turn back hard than to go forward bravely.

If you find yourself lost, you should climb high and look far, and judge where you should go, especially in mountainous areas. You should climb the nearby big ridge and observe it before deciding whether to continue climbing or go down. Usually go to the low-lying direction, so it is easy to touch the water source. It is safest to walk along the river, which is especially important in the forest (jungle). As the saying goes, "Water can send people home", because roads and residential areas are often built by waterfront and rivers.

In mountainous areas, if the direction of the mountain range is clear and the slope of the ridge is gentle, you can walk along the ridge. Because of the broad vision of the ridge, it is convenient to observe the road conditions and determine the location. Ridges also play a guiding role. As long as you walk along the ridge, you can usually reach a certain goal.

When traveling in the vast and flat desert, Gobi desert or vast snowy forest, people usually don't walk in a straight line and turn right because of the single scenery and lack of directional objects in the above areas. The average person's left step is slightly larger than his right step by 0. 1 ~ 0.4 mm, so he will turn to the right unconsciously in the process of marching. Pedestrians generally walk in a circle, about 3 ~ 5 kilometers in diameter, which is what the saying goes. In order to avoid detours and waste time, it is very important to travel in a straight line in a certain direction when traveling in the desert Gobi or forest. Walking in the above areas, you can use the wind blowing in one direction for a long time or the clouds floating in one direction quickly to determine the direction. Walking against the wind or keeping a certain angle with them can ensure walking in a straight line for a certain period of time. You can also use the "overlapping marking method", that is, every time you walk for a certain distance, you can make a mark on the back (such as putting stones, inserting branches, or carving marks on the trunk with a knife and axe), and keep looking back to see if the marks on the walking lines are on the same line, so you can know whether you have deviated from the direction. In the war of liberation, when the PLA was fighting bandits in the northeast, scouts used this method to get information from the vast snowy forest and send it back.

The scenery in the desert area is monotonous and often fascinating. Because of the wind and sand dunes moving, the roads on desert land are not fixed. The way to find identification can be identified according to the feces of horses, donkeys and camels on the ground. People with general laws are the routes that people and animals walk. If there is no way out, you can follow in the footsteps of camels. In the arid desert, camels have a special sensitivity to water, so they can often find water. In the fixed and semi-fixed sand dunes and grassland areas, the roads are few but relatively straight, with little change. As long as you keep the general direction of travel, you can keep going. In areas with quicksand, individual road sections will be covered and there will be left and right detours. Generally, this detour distance will not be very far. You should return to the original direction in time, don't go straight to the fork in the road and go astray. In desert areas, we should also be careful not to be confused by a mirage.

Walking in the forest, the high-density canopy blocks the sun, and you can't see the sun, moon and stars at all. When entering the forest, in order to avoid getting lost, we should study the local topographic map clearly. Pay special attention to linear objects that can point to both sides of the direction of travel, such as rivers, highways, mountains and long lakes. Pay attention to whether its position is on the left or right of the travel route and whether it is parallel to the route. If you find that you are lost, you should immediately move in the direction of the pointed object until you reach it, and then determine your position.

If you get lost in the forest, you should first estimate how far you have gone from the place where you can determine the direction, then look for the trunk around you that is easy to watch, scrape the skin with a knife and axe as a ring mark (that is, scrape the skin around the trunk so that you can see it from any direction), and then go back according to your memory. If you can't find the original position, turn back to the mark and try again in another direction. Always find the target in the end.

In the forest, if you don't pay attention, it's hard to tell whether it's a forest Nakakoji or a gap between trees. The road that people often take is hard and practical because the road surface is often trampled. However, it should be noted that not all solid roads are sidewalk roads. If the upper body often touches the vine branches of grass, but the lower body is not entangled in these sundries, it may be a path where wild animals haunt. In the dark, this feeling is more acute and accurate than during the day. In this case, you should return to the sidewalk immediately. People who are inexperienced or unfamiliar with the road usually get lost when walking in the forest at night, so don't walk at night unless there are special circumstances.

In the jungle area of the southwest frontier of China, many ethnic minorities are used to cutting down all the trees on the mountain near the stockade. So, after getting lost in this area, you can climb a tree or have a look. If you find that there are no trees on a mountain, there are often people near that mountain. In addition, the houses of Dai and other ethnic minorities are mostly made of bamboo, and they are used to planting big bamboos next to the stockade. Therefore, it is easy to find huts where there are big bamboos.

When you get lost, it's frustrating to have no way out. If you meet a fork in the road, there are many roads that make you feel at a loss. At this point, we must first make clear the direction to take, and then choose the right path. If the directions of several roads are roughly the same and cannot be determined, then choose the middle road, so as to make ends meet, and even if you take the wrong road, you will not deviate too far.

It was getting late that day after getting lost. You should camp at once, don't wait until dark, or you will be very passive. If you feel tired, you should also have a rest immediately, and don't stop until you are exhausted. This should be paid special attention to in winter. Excessive fatigue and sweating can easily cause frostbite or freeze to death.

For a calm and determined soldier, getting lost is not terrible. As the old saying goes, "There is no way for mountains and rivers to be suspicious, and there is another village in the dark." When you lose your way, as long as you calmly analyze and judge your position according to some characteristics of nature, such as the sun, the moon and the stars, and strengthen your confidence, you will definitely break through the encirclement of "mountains and rivers" and enter a "bright future" situation!

If you need rescue, you can make a fire at a high place at night; Combustible smoke during the day, put grass on the fire, it will emit white smoke, put grass every ten seconds, the correct way is 6 times per minute. This is a universal distress signal. If you are in the forest, you can hit birch trees with axes and sticks, because birch trees are loud and spread far.

In open areas, such as grasslands, beaches and snow, ground signs can be made according to local conditions. For example, cut the grass into certain signs, step on the snow or put out corresponding signs with trees and stones to communicate with the air.