Like other natural phenomena, in the human history of various civilizations, the Sun was an object of worship. His cult existed in ancient Egypt, where this deity was called Ra. Among the Greeks, the sun god was Helios, who every day drove through the sky in his fiery chariot. Among the Slavs, the deity of the luminary was Yarilo. This trend is also observed in the states of East Asia: the Moon and the Sun were considered opposites - Yang and Yin.
In Indo-European languages, the celestial body is denoted by a term that contains the root sol. This part of the word migrated to Latin, Spanish, Icelandic, Portuguese, Swedish, Catalan, Norwegian and Galician. Even in English, the term sol (most often in a scientific context) is used to refer to a given celestial body. At the same time, there is a connection with the word-forming root of the Indo-European language in Slavic speech.
Such close attention to the heavenly body, which has become a cult among many peoples and tribes, is explained by its great importance for the economy of those times. rur althe economy was fully dependent on the benevolence of the Sun and its generous rays. The importance of this star for orientation cannot be underestimated, since astronomy has served as a way of navigation since ancient times - a lot depended on the results of measurements of the position of celestial bodies. There was nothing worse for a captain of a ship, a desert caravan, or an experienced traveler than an overcast sky. It was in those days that the term "guiding star" was born, which to this day is a symbol of the fact that not everything is lost, so do not give up.
Determination of coordinates by the Sun
In those distant times, when there was no compass yet, and the compiled maps left much to be desired in terms of their accuracy, people used natural luminaries for orientation. These methods of determining position in space were calculated empirically, but later received confirmation during the Age of Discovery. However, until the 11th century, which became the century of the compass in Europe, the only way to determine the guiding thread for all guides and captains was the star closest to the Earth. Sunrise and sunset were perceived as an event.
The sun could bring both hope and curse. The first travelers who reached the southern, tropical or equatorial latitudes were discouraged by the difficulties of determining their position in space in these territories. There is a very simple explanation for this: sunrise and sunset allows you to determine its azimuth quite accurately, but when it reaches the zenith, thisbecame an impossible task for the navigators of that time. Only with a change in the human worldview regarding the structure of the planet and its position in the universe, the storehouse of knowledge began to replenish, and this problem was resolved.
Location methods
Despite the archaism of such observations, they have not lost their relevance for modern travelers who are armed with GPS navigation and accurate maps, because the movement of the star closest to Earth across the sky demonstrates an enviable regularity. This is very helpful in extreme situations, when technical means for a number of reasons cannot come to the rescue. Let's move on to a detailed look at common orienteering methods used by hikers and other nature lovers.
The simplest solution to using the nearest star as a navigator when walking or traveling is to remember its position at a certain time. But for this there is no need to track its movement across the sky, it is enough just to keep in memory the place where the sunrise or sunset occurs at a given time of the year. At the end of the route, you will need to remember where the star was at the specified moment and move in the required direction.
Determining south, server, west and east
It will be much more difficult to determine the cardinal directions, because for this you need to master the techniques from basic geometry and geography. For example: it is well known that in the Northern Hemisphere, sunrise begins in the east, and sunset inwest. However, these data are not entirely correct. Depending on the time of year, these processes can gravitate both to the southwest and to the east, which requires significant adjustments for route planners.
Another conditionally effective way, which gives an error of up to 10 degrees, can be the use of "sundial". To do this, a rod is driven into the soil, and then the position of the cast shadow is fixed after 20 minutes. By connecting its extreme points, you can get the east direction, and from it - the rest of the world.
Event Organization
When planning a route, it is important for tourists to take into account the length of daylight hours, because the time of sunset is known in advance, astronomers publish this data in the public domain. The result of such planning will be the optimal use of efforts to overcome the elements of the landscape and the convenience of equipped h alts.
To organize walks in the vicinity of the Russian capital in the coming days, you can use the following data.
| Date | Dawn | Sunset |
| 02.08.2014 | 05:37:50 | 21:37:11 |
| 2014-03-07 | 05:39:42 | 21:35:12 |
Such planning will help organize your leisure time properly and stop on time for a h alt or set up a camp.
