Sunset and value for travelers

Like other natural phenomena in human history of different civilizations sun was the object of worship.His cult existed in ancient Egypt, where this god was called Ra.The Greeks had the sun god Helios, who drove every day across the sky in his fiery chariot.The Slavs same deity was shining Yarilo.In the states of East Asia also observed this trend: The Moon and the Sun were considered opposites - Yin and Yang.

In Indo-European languages ​​heavenly body designated by the term which contains the root of the sol.This part of the word migrated into Latin, Spanish, Icelandic, Portuguese, Swedish, Catalan, Galician and Norwegian languages.Even in English, the term sol (most often in a scientific context) is used to refer to this heavenly body.At the same time and in the Slavic speech traced the connection with the Indo-European root preformative.

Such attention to the heavenly bodies, which became a cult in many nations and tribes, due to its great importance for the economy of those times.Agriculture fully depended on the favor of the Sun and its generous rays.Do not underestimate the importance of this and the stars to guide, as yet since ancient times served as a way to navigate astronomy - from the results of measurements of the position of celestial bodies depended very much.There was nothing worse for the ship's captain, a caravan in the desert or a seasoned traveler than overcast sky.It was in those days, and originated the term "guiding star", which to this day is a symbol of the fact that not all is lost, so do not give up.

Determination of coordinates of the Sun

In those days, when there did not exist a compass and map created by poor accuracy of its performance, people used natural light for orientation.These methods of determining the position in space were calculated empirically, but later received confirmation during the Age of Discovery.However, until the XI century which is the century of the compass in Europe, the only way to determine the guiding thread for all conductors and captains was the closest star to Earth.Sunrise and sunset was seen as an event.

sun could give both hope and a curse.The first travelers who have reached the southern, tropical or equatorial latitudes, have been discouraged by the complexity of determining the position in space in these areas.This is a very simple explanation: the rising and setting of the sun allows to determine the azimuth accurately enough, but when it reaches its zenith it became an impossible task for the navigators of the time.Only with a change of attitude regarding the human structure of the planet and its position in the universe has become a storehouse of knowledge replenished, and the problem was solved.

Methods of locating

Despite the archaic these observations, they have not lost their relevance for modern travelers, who are armed with GPS-navigation and accurate maps, because the movement of the stars closest to Earth on a sky shows punctually.This is helps in extreme situations where hardware for a variety of reasons, can not come to the rescue.Let's move on to a detailed examination of the conventional methods of orientation, which is used by tourists and other nature lovers.The simplest solution of using the nearest star as a navigator when walking or hiking trip is remembering its position at a particular time.But for this there is no need to track its movement across the sky, you just store the place where the sunrise or sunset at this time of year.At the end of the route will have to be remembered where he was a star in the specified time, and move in the desired direction.

Determination south, server, west and east

will be much more difficult to determine the points of the compass, because it needs to possess the basic techniques of geometry and geography.For example: it is well known that in the northern hemisphere begins rising in the east and sunset - in the west.However, these data are not quite right.Depending on the season, these processes may gravitate as the south-west and to the east, which requires making significant amendments to those planning the route.

Another conditionally effective way that produces an error of up to 10 degrees, is to use "hours of sunshine."To do this, rod hammered into the soil and then secured the position of the shadow cast by 20 minutes.Combining its extreme points, you can get the eastern direction, and from it - the other part of the world.

Event Planning

When planning a route for tourists is important to consider the length of daylight hours, because the time of sunset is known in advance, astronomers publish this information in the public domain.The result of this planning will be the optimal use of the efforts to overcome the elements of the landscape and convenience equip halts.

To organize walks in the vicinity of the Russian capital in the coming days, you can use the following data.

This plan will help organize activities properly and in time to stop for a rest or camp.