Celestial Navigation Tutorial
SeaSources Celestial Navigation Training Videos
This course is designed to help you prepare yourself to pass the U. S. Coast Guard examination on Celestial Navigation for the upon oceans endorsement. The lessons presented are meant to be taken in order by lesson number to work your way through the course. All of the videos are now available here to view for free. They can still be downloaded and installed for viewing offline through the TesTTaker software.
Click here to Preview Navigation Problems, Celestial Observations Questions
Click here to Preview Navigation Problems, Celestial Observations Illustrations
- Introduction Video
- Lesson 1: Corrections To Sextant Reading
- Lesson 2: Dip Correction
- Lesson 3: Apparent Altitude
- Lesson 4: Time, Watch Time
- Lesson 5: Time, Chronometer Time
- Lesson 6: Finding GHA and Declination
- Lesson 7: Increments and Corrections, Sun
- Lesson 8: Increments and Corrections, Star
- Lesson 9: Assumed Position and Local Hour Angle
- Lesson 10: Finding Computed Altitude and Azimuth
- Lesson 11: Interpolation
- Lesson 12: Altitude Intercept
- Lesson 13: Position Plotting Sheets
- Lesson 14: Plotting Lines of Position
- Lesson 15: Combining all the lessons so far into a complete sight reduction problem. I still have a few details to tweak on this one but you can get the general idea.
- Lesson 16: Finding Deviation or Gyro Error
- Lesson 17: Finding Azimuth by 229 For Compass Correction
- Lesson 18: Amplitudes
- Lesson 19: Predicting Zone Time of Local apparent Noon
- Lesson 20: Latitude by Meridian Altitude
- Lesson 21: Latitude and Azimuth by Polaris
- Lesson 22: Running Fixes
- Lesson 23: Predicting Time of Sunrise / Sunset
- Lesson 24: Star Identification
The following reference material is available to work the above lessons
- Download Tables for Lesson 3, Altitude Correction
- Download Tables for Lesson 7, Increments and Corrections Sun:
- Download Tables for Lesson 8, Increments and Corrections Star
- Download Tables for Lesson 10, Finding Computed Altitude and Azimuth
- Download Tables for Lesson 11, Interpolation
- Download Table 27 for Lesson 18, Amplitudes
- Download Table 28 for Lesson 18, Amplitudes
- Download Universal Plotting Sheet for Lesson 14, Plotting Lines of Position
- Download Complete Increments and Corrections Tables:
- Download Complete Nautical Almanac
- Download Complete HO 229, Sight Reduction Tables.
- Download Pole Star Tables
Listed below is a table of contents of the questions on this subject as they appear in the new online study. Click on the “Enter Online Study” link above to begin preparing for your exam.
From the pull down menu in the online study select from the following topics:
- Deck Examination Questions as of March 24, 2014 Regulations
- Celestial Navigation
- Navigation problems
- Amplitude
- Sun
- Jupiter
- Moon
- Saturn
- Venus
- Azimuth
- Polaris
- Sun
- Fix or running fix
- Star
- Sun
- Latitude by meridian transit
- Ex-meridian
- Lower transit – other
- Sun
- Latitude by Polaris
- Misc. problems
- Ho
- Lha, zn, a
- Star identification
- Major
- Minor
- Star selection
- Time of meridian transit
- Second estimate
- Zone time calculations
- Sun rise/set
- Navigational astronomy
- Characteristics of celestial bodies
- Moon
- Motions of celestial bodies
- Planets
- Stars
- Sun
- Coordinate systems
- Celestial equator system
- Earth system
- Ecliptic system
- Horizon system
- Navigational triangle
- Altitudes-horizons
- Miscellaneous
- Sides/angles
- Time
- Apparent time, eq. time
- Sidereal time, lunar time, etc.
- Solar time, gmt, lmt, zt
- Navigational procedures
- Celestial navigation procedures