Thad Petteplace has been a recreational sailor since the mid ’80s‚ when he learned how to do celestial navigation. He describes it as a fascinating combination of sailing‚ astronomy and math that gives one a sense of connection to sailors from centuries past. He continues to keep in practice even in the age of GPS.

In this overview seminar‚ Thad will explore the history of navigating by the stars‚ examine an actual nautical sextant‚ cover the fundamentals of how celestial navigation works‚ and discuss how it is still relevant today. Thad will step through the process of finding a ship’s location at sea‚ going from star measurements to latitude/longitude coordinates and then answer questions.

A second‚ small group session (separate registration) in April will offer students the chance to take their own measurements.