AstroNavigation

All content for this course is open to the public.

This online course is made possible by The Blended & Online Learning Design (BOLD) Fellows Program and is hosted by Vanderbilt University. The BOLD Fellows program allows graduate student-faculty teams to create course materials in STEM subject areas rooted in good course design principles which benefit from the online content delivery.

This course serves to address the lack of widely-available instruction in astronavigation. Specifically targeted here are the steps of performing a sight reduction to obtain a terrestrial position using this technique. These steps are explicitly illustrated after a brief overview provides a solid context for their relevance. Difficult concepts such as plotting on a navigational chart and the complexities of using of navigational publications should be better served through this online content delivery.

Content created by:
Dr. David D. Caudel
Physicist, Vanderbilt University
david.d.caudel@vanderbilt.edu

Faculty Mentors:
Dr. Susan G. Stewart
Adjoint Assistant Professor of Astronomy, Vanderbilt University
Astronomer, U.S. Naval Observatory
susan.g.stewart@vanderbilt.edu

Dr. Erika Grundstrom
Lecturer; Director of Astronomy Labs and Astronomy Outreach, Vanderbilt University
erika.grundstrom@vanderbilt.edu

Special thanks to Ralph Naranjo, author of The Art of Seamanship (McGraw Hill) and instructor at the Annapolis School of Seamanship (email: rjnaranjo@cs.com); Sean Urban and QMC (SW/AW) Tim Sheedy, U.S.N (U.S. Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications Department)