Cabana, Georgette Alison R.

9-SPA H.dela Rama

SCIENCE

January 04, 2015

SEHS, Marikina City

Research Question: How can you use the North Star to find your latitude?
By measuring the angle of its elevation from the horizon with the use of a sextant or even a simple astrolabe.
Find your city on the map...
Lat: 14.6400 N
14 39 3
Long: 121.0972 E
121 6 10
How accurate was your astrolabe?
More or less (), the astrolabe is accurate in the sense that its
result of 14 is relatively near to the actual latitude of
Marikina city which is, 14.6400 N.
Terms:
Latitude () is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the Earth's
surface. Latitude is an angle (defined below) which ranges from 0 at the Equator to 90 (North or South) at
the poles. Lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run eastwest as circles parallel to the equator.
Longitude is ageographic coordinatethat specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is
an angular measurement, usually expressed indegrees and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ().
North Star, or Pole Star, a bright star near the north celestial pole (the point in the sky toward which the
northern end of the earth's axis points). The North Star is the only star in the sky that does not appear to
change position as the hours and days pass. It can therefore be used as a guide to direction on any clear night.
For centuries sailors have used the North Star to help them navigate.
How did sailors use the North Star?
Sailors only had to measure the angle of elevation of the North Star and they could figure out their latitude on
the map. It turns out that the angle of elevation of the North Star is equal to your latitude on the map.
The North Star, therefore, serves as a method of determining position as well as direction.