North Star to Southern Cross
North Star to Southern Cross
This fine little book covers some astronomy, some mythology, and some Polynesian navigation. All well written on a non-technical level. It includes excellent monthly star maps. Each constellation is described as they appear monthly.
A great little book to have on board to enhance your star gazing underway. It has been very popular with our students. Will Kyselka does (or at least did) planetarium lectures on Polynesian navigation and related topics at the Bishop Museum Planetarium in Honolulu, much as we do (or at least did) here in Seattle at the Pacific Science Center Planetarium.
When you are out sailing across an ocean you will have a wonderful wide perspective of the night sky. You cannot help but wonder some about the stars and other things that are out there. This book is a good way to start looking into these matters. Well done at a good price. It was not intended for mariners specifically, but it meets our needs very nicely.