"Jim" wrote:

More importantly - can anyone list a website that explains:

1. how \ where to find those 57 stars and

Finding the stars comes from knowledge of the heavens. It's not
difficult to learn the minimum amount needed to identify 5 or 6 bright
stars in any heaven that would be above you. You could also use a
planisphere or with sight reduction tables you could work out more or
less where the star would be at the time you want to use it for
navigation. You look in that direction at that altitude and then the
brightest one in that area is likely to be your navigation star.

2. how to use them for navigation

All celestial navigation is based on a very simple theory. At any
given moment (exact time) every star in the heavens above has a
zenithal point somewhere on earth. That is a point where it is 90
degrees to the earth below. Directly overhead. At that exact moment
you measure the angle between your position and the star. Then you
can use a giant imaginery compass, with one point stuck into that
zenithal point and with the two legs set at the angle you measured, to
inscribe a giant circle on the earth. Somewhere on this circle you
must be. Do this with three stars and those three imaginary circles
will intersect at a single point. That's where you are on the globe.

That's the theory. In practice it is a little more complicated. As
others have indicated there are very good online and paper resources
which will explain the details.

It is also fairly pricey to do it this way - a good sextant and
reliable chronometer will set you back a bit but they are one time
expenditures. Annually you will have to purchase celestial tables -
and they can be very pricey.

But this is the purist celestial navigator's way. I have a cousin who
during the eighties did a few years delivering yachts around the
world. He had a scanty knowledge of navigation. By using a few
tricks - like a good celestial navigation calculator - and a cheap
plastic sextant he avoided running into anything expensive. Most
navigation is pretty commonsensical - give a clot the most expensive
GPS and he will still run into things, probably while peering at the
GPS, while an expert navigator can make do with very little. I had a
pal who once sailed from Cape Town to St Helena using a cheap
transistor radio for the time and an old war surplus box sextant.
Even those aids were pretty pointless as for the first week he was in
fog and couldn't see a star or the sun. And he made it spot on. He
had been a navigator on an ocean minesweeper during WW2 - and their
navigation had to be pretty good and accurate. His skill made up for
the lack of fancy equipment.

Eugene L Griessel

The basic delusion that men may be governed and yet be free.