celestial navigation
1
7.7
- noun
- /səˈlɛstʃəl ˌnævɪˈɡeɪʃən/
- Specialized
:
navegación celeste
- In celestial navigation, sailors determine their position by referencing celestial bodies like stars.
- use of celestial navigation
They use stars for celestial navigation as well as earth magnetic field and the landmarks.
- They use stars for celestial navigation as well as earth magnetic field and the landmarks.
Examples
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To improve their skills, many mariners study celestial navigation during their training.
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His love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, and he has sailed the North Atlantic, earning his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation.
Blog text (11) -
I took a celestial navigation class online.
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In celestial navigation, one second can be the difference between life and death.
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How can we find our way with celestial navigation and wireless technology?
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First I thought it was a location bounce... for celestial navigation, but it's a little simplistic.
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They use stars for celestial navigation as well as earth magnetic field and the landmarks.
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I had hoped to study alone, try my hand at celestial navigation and object finding, tracking a few of the near stars known to have planetary systems.
Fiction book (1993) -
I didn't go to library school, and I couldn't tell you that books about celestial navigation should be in the 527s without help from Wikipedia.
Academic text (2012) -
The pilot set the ship's course using celestial navigation by observing the stars and the Moon.
Synonyms
1
9.9
Finding a place and direction by looking at stars
A way to guide a vehicle like a spaceship using stars and planets
How Accurate
- Specialized
4
9.5
- Specialized
1
7.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'celestial' (relating to stars, the Sun, the Moon, etc.) with 'navigation' (determining or controlling position and course). This compositional noun–noun phrase describes navigation using celestial bodies and follows a transparent, cross-linguistically common modifier+noun pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words should understand it.
Etymology
Celestial navigation comes from the simple picture of sailors watching the celestial bodies, the Sun, Moon and stars, and using them for navigation on the open sea. Because those sky points let sailors 'work out where they were', the phrase now means 'finding where you are by the stars'.