Want to learn celestial navigation?

Taught by experts in plain English, this is the top rated course, used by amateurs and professionals alike.

Why train with Maritime Couses Online?

  • Expert instructors

    Industry-leading instructors

  • Full offline support

    Contact your supervising instructor via email and join in our regular webinars

  • Plain English

    Our absolute commitment to do away with jargon and explain everything in plain English

  • tuning a sextant

Launch date is July 01, 2021

Pre-register today to save £100. Use code: CELESTIAL-100

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  • sextant mirrors

Course curriculum

Bite sized lessons with constant knowledge checks

  • 1

    WELCOME: A MESSAGE FROM YOUR INSTRUCTOR

    • What to expect
  • 2

    OVERVIEW OF CELESTIAL NAVIGATION

    • Celestial navigation: an overview
  • 3

    LATITUDE & LONGITUDE

    • Understanding latitude & longitude

    • Angles, distance & great circles

    • Axis of the Earth’s rotation & key parallels of latitude

    • Bonus: the history of longitude

    • Latitude & longitude: worksheet

    • Latitude & longitude: quiz
  • 4

    MATHS

    • Adding degrees and minutes

    • Subtracting degrees and minutes

    • Averaging degrees and minutes

    • Maths: worksheet
  • 5

    GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION

    • What is the Geographical Position?

    • Hour angle explained

    • Greenwich & local hour angle

    • Calculating local hour angle

    • Introduction to the Nautical Almanac

    • Finding the Sun's Greenwich hour angle

    • What is declination?

    • Finding the Sun's declination

    • Bonus lesson: perihelion & aphelion

    • Geographical position: worksheet
  • 6

    FINDING YOUR POSITION

    • What the sextant is used for

    • Circles of equal altitude

    • Using circles of equal altitude to find position

    • Finding your position: worksheet
  • 7

    THE PLOTTING PROBLEM

    • Understanding the problem with plotting position

    • The Marc St Hilaire method

    • Why a chosen position can be anywhere

    • Calculating the intercept

    • The plotting problem: worksheet
  • 8

    BUILDING THE PZX TRIANGLE

    • The role of the PZX triangle

    • Tables vs the mathematical approach

    • Constructing the PZX triangle

    • Bonus lesson: the mathematical approach

    • Building the PZX triangle: worksheet
  • 9

    THE SIGHT REDUCTION TABLES

    • Introduction to the sight reduction tables

    • Matching the sight reduction tables to the PZX triangle

    • Correcting calculated altitude for minutes of declination

    • Same and contrary name

    • The sight reduction tables: worksheet
  • 10

    USING THE PZX TRIANGLE

    • Azimuth & azimuth angle

    • Finding the azimuth

    • Comparing calculated & observed altitudes

    • Using the PZX triangle: worksheet
  • 11

    PLOTTING

    • Dead reckoning

    • Mercator projections

    • Setting up the plotting sheet

    • Plotting a line of position

    • Plotting: worksheet
  • 12

    PRACTICAL SEXTANT SKILLS

    • The role of the sextant

    • Parts of the sextant

    • Full and split screen sextants

    • Interpreting sextant scales

    • How to bring the sun down

    • How to take good sights

    • Bonus: which sextant?

    • Practical sextant skills: worksheet
  • 13

    SEXTANT CORRECTIONS

    • Tuning the sextant

    • Correcting the sextant

    • Averaging vs plotting

    • Sextant corrections: worksheet
  • 14

    END TO END SIGHT REDUCTION & PLOTTING

    • Sight reduction

    • Plotting

    • A running fix

    • End to end sight reduction & plotting: worksheet
  • 15

    TIME

    • Time zones

    • Key times of the day

    • Arc to time

    • Chronometers & watch error

    • Time: worksheet
  • 16

    MERPASS

    • Principles of Merpass

    • Practicalities of shooting merpass

    • Plotting merpass

    • Sun-run-merpass-run-sun worked example

    • Merpass: worksheet
  • 17

    THE STARS

    • The first point of Aries

    • Finding GHA Aries

    • Luminosity & magnitude explained

    • Introduction to Publication 249: seven selected stars

    • Planning star sights

    • Finding the right star

    • End to end star sights

    • Bonus: the birth of a star
  • 18

    PLANETS

    • Which planets we use and why

    • Meridian passage of the planets

    • V correction for planets' GHA

    • Sextant corrections for planets

    • End to end planet sights

    • Planets: worksheet
  • 19

    THE MOON

    • Specific moon considerations

    • Moon pages in the Nautical Almanac

    • End to end Moon sights

    • The Moon: worksheet
  • 20

    POLARIS

    • Introduction to Polaris

    • Finding latitude with Polaris

    • The Polaris tables in the Nautical Almanac

    • Practical tips when shooting Polaris

    • Polaris: worksheet
  • 21

    THE CELESTIAL NAVIGATOR'S APPROACH

    • Learning to love DR

    • The celestial navigator's day

    • The point of departure

    • Realistic accuracy

    • Using celestial navigation in an emergency
  • 22

    USING STARFINDERS & CELESTIAL APPS

    • Starfinders

    • Celestial apps
  • 23

    WORKSHEETS & DOWNLOADS

    • TEST WORKSHEET

    • Using the worksheets
  • 24

    NAUTICAL ALAMANAC: PDFs

    • Nautical Almanac - Conversion of Arc to Time

    • Nautical Almanac - Moon Pages

    • Nautical Almanac - Planets Merpass

    • Nautical Almanac - Polaris Pages

    • Nautical Almanac - Altitude Correction Pages

    • Nautical Almanac - Increments & Corrections

    • Nautical Almanac - Daily Pages

    • Using the Nautical Almanac PDF files
  • 25

    SIGHT REDUCTION TABLE FOR AIR NAVIGATION: PDFs

    • Sight Reduction Tables - Latitudes 39° to 89°

    • Sight Reduction Tables - Latitudes 00° to 40°

    • Pub. 249 Seven Selected Stars - Epoch 2020

    • Using the Sight Reduction Table PDF files
  • Sextant horizon

Instructor(s)

Senior Instructor

Bruce Jacobs

I've been a professional sailor for many years and am passionate about helping translate complex ideas and topics into plain English! I'm always happy to help with any questions you may have, so ask away!

Senior instructor

Rachael Sprot

Born and bred as a professional sailor, from a mother who was also a professional sailor. Sailing has to be calm, relaxed and fun or something is not right. Do get in touch to ask any questions you may have.

Learn from the experts

Celestial navigation is our passion. Press play to find out more


Used by the professionals

When professional sailors want to understand celestial navigation... this is the course they use

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  • checking horizon error

FAQ

  • Do I need any prior knowledge?

    You never have to have studied any celestial navigation before. This course will take you from first principles through to advanced understanding. However, we do recommend that you have some basic understanding of navigation prior to enrolling.

  • Do I need any equipment?

    No. Ultimately, you will need to buy yourself a sextant and this course includes a pdf download outlining your options. However, you do not need this until the end of the course and you can learn everything you need to know prior to purchasing a sextant.

  • Do I get any support?

    Absolutely. You get full instructor support. You can contact the instructors at any time via email and they will get back to you quickly. You can also join our weekly webinars, where we discuss particular topics. Finally, you can schedule a 1:1 zoom call with an instructor to talk through any issues or questions you may have.

  • Planets Merpass

What our students say ...

(& why it's the highest rated course available)

Superb instruction

Iain B, London

This is a fantastic course. I had sat through other courses and got nowhere. From the very start, this was different. The level of expertise is huge and that allows them to explain it so simply.

Yes! I finally got it...

Wendy R, Boston

I had passed my RYA Yachtmaster Ocean but understood very little of it. A friend persuaded me to come on this course and it was so far and away ahead of anything else I had seen. Everything finally made complete sense.

Highly recommended

Michael B, Bristol

I am a professional sailing instructor and this is the sort of thing I should know. I had tried and tried to learn but got nowhere, so although it was highly recommended, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get it. Wow. Not only do I get it, but this is also now the course I tell all my students to come on.

What you get

Everything you need, whether you're new to celestial navigation or have already done some study

  • Suitable for beginners or more experienced students

  • All material provided - nothing else to buy

  • Instruction through video, animations & worksheets

  • Full instructor support by email and Zoom

It's time to learn!

Join us on this amazing adventure as we learn how to navigate using the Sun, Moon and stars. You're in the right place. Now come and learn!

Get started now