Stellar Guidance

From: Tom Niemisto
Length: 14:56

Astronomy, navigation, and self-search Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Stellar Guidance
From: Tom Niemisto

Astro-detail2_small Celestial bodies are a curious mystery to gaze up at on a summer night. Human cultures have a long history of creating stories and myths about the shapes stars seem to take on. Stars also have served a practical purpose for navigators on ocean bound vessels. With the help of a sextant and nautical chart it is possible to deduce a precise location without the help of GPS devices. We hear from Captain Samantha Heyman who has used celestial navigation on cross-ocean voyages for years and found the stars to be loyal companions on an often inhospitable ocean.

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Piece Description

Celestial bodies are a curious mystery to gaze up at on a summer night. Human cultures have a long history of creating stories and myths about the shapes stars seem to take on. Stars also have served a practical purpose for navigators on ocean bound vessels. With the help of a sextant and nautical chart it is possible to deduce a precise location without the help of GPS devices. We hear from Captain Samantha Heyman who has used celestial navigation on cross-ocean voyages for years and found the stars to be loyal companions on an often inhospitable ocean.

Broadcast History

Produced for Julie Sabatier and Destination: DIY on OPB

Transcript

Stellar Guidance Draft 2.2 9-1-2010
Navigation, Astronomy and Self-discovery

(crickets slow fadeup)

Narr: A starry night sky has always been fascinating to me. I’ve met so many people like me who love to be mesmerized by the spattered points of light in a dark ocean above. There’s so much to look at it’s hard to know how to make any sense of it and I usually end the night with more questions and a sense of feeling really small.

Norm (New male voice, leading around a fire): There is the Northern Crown, those are the points of the corona borealis, the northern crown, and right above it is Hercules –

Narr: I recorded this one summer night with some family friends around a cackling fire, and that voice you hear talking about the constellations is a friend of mine named Norm. Norm who actually is an expert on the mythology of the constellations. In fact he teaches a high school...
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