How to look at the stars and tell the direction

Polaris is located in the sky due north. When observed, its height from the ground is approximately equivalent to the local latitude. When looking for it, it is usually determined according to the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) or the W star (Hou Xian).

The Big Dipper is seven bright stars, shaped like a spoon. It extends a straight line from the spoon head to the spoon mouth, which is about five times the distance between the two stars. There is a slightly darker star, the Polaris. Polaris indicates the north.

Step 2 Use the Southern Cross

In the area south of 23 30' north latitude, you can sometimes see the Southern Cross at night, which can also be used to tell the direction. The Southern Cross consists of four brighter stars, which are shaped like a "ten". At the lower right of the Southern Cross, it extends down about four and a half times along the connecting line between the two stars (no stars are visible), that is, due south.

Step 3 use Venus

In the morning, people can see the bright Venus in the eastern sky, which is called the "morning star", that is, the star that opens the dawn. In the era without clocks and watches, people judge the arrival of dawn by the rise of the morning star; At dusk, Venus appeared in the western sky, shining brightly, and was called "Chang Geng Xing". ?

Extended data:

Polaris is a very important indicator of field activities and ancient navigation direction, and it is also a constellation that can tell the direction from small to stargazing to large to astrophotography, and the equatorial observatory in the observation room accurately locates it. Because Polaris is closest to true north, people on earth have been navigating by its starlight for thousands of years.

Because the earth rotates around the earth axis, and Polaris is very close to the north extension line of the earth axis, Polaris is almost motionless in the sky at night, with its head tilted to the north, so it can indicate the north.

Baidu encyclopedia-find the right direction of the field

Baidu Encyclopedia-Polaris (the nearest star to the North Celestial Pole)