You are here Solar System Dynamics Story Navigate

Your Place in Space

You are hereYour spot on Earth and tonight's Moon: rise, peak, set
Solar SystemWatch the year turn: seasons, birth signs, eclipses, meteors
DynamicsSee the planets orbit and Kepler's laws at work
StoryFollow the discoveries in the order humans made them
NavigateMeasure the sky with a sextant and find where you stand

03Navigate

Latitude

43.7° NDrag the observer

Your sky · looking north

Polaris is near the north celestial pole. Its height above the north horizon ≈ your latitude.

Lesson 01

Latitude from the north celestial pole

Latitude is the altitude of the celestial pole above its horizon. Polaris marks that pole, so its height above the north horizon is your latitude: 0° at the equator, 90° at the pole. South of the equator Polaris stays below the horizon.

The Sun, the Moon, planets, and charted stars work too: with the exact time, each sight gives a line of position in either hemisphere.