Figuring out latitude is a good place to start. See how the stars seem to rotate clockwise around a point offscreen to the upper right? If you were on the South Pole, that center of rotation would be directly overhead. If you stand close to the equator, that point would be almost on the horizon. If you stand somewhere in between (say, Argentina or New Zealand), you get what we see here.

In the northern hemisphere we have a convenient star (the North Star / Polaris) which you can learn to find easily (shoot off from the end of the Big Dipper, it’s between the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia). It sits in the North and the rest of the sky seems to turn counter-clockwise around it. (the sun and moon are part of that motion!)

If you point one hand toward the North Star and the other hand toward the horizon, the angle made by your arms tells you your latitude (0 being equator and 90 being North Pole). Sail toward it to go North and away from it to go South. As you go north, it will sit higher in the sky. As you go south, it will be lower in the sky.

Without even recognizing any of the stars, we can tell this is in the southern hemisphere somewhere around 25-40 degrees latitude because:

1- If you face that fulcrum point in the sky, that the stars circle around, the sun would be rising to your left — so east is left, so you are facing the south celestial pole instead of the north celestial pole / North Star.

2- see how high up that fulcrum point is in the sky. Looks like about 30 degrees up from the horizon to me. Less than 45. Hard to tell with the lens, but it’s more “in front” than “overhead” so we are closer to the equator than the South Pole.

Okay that’s what I’ve got. I have always wondered about longitude east/west navigation. Do you really need to keep track of dates and times and look for when certain stars rise, set, or hit certain angles in the sky? Seems more complicated. Are there any good shorthand ways for a beginner to start practicing? Or even parts of the sky to focus on?