Questions tagged [navigation]
This tag is for questions that deal with how navigation works or how tools for navigation work. Note that this site generally deals with questions that don't make sense in our world. So, "How does a compass work" is not a valid question on this site.
86
questions
10
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Equivalent of cardinal directions on a tidally-locked planet?
I am making a game with the explorable world divided into multiple labeled regions. There is great convenience and simplicity in being able to reference the cardinal directions when labeling these ...
- 41
2
votes
1
answer
239
views
When would a cannon be a quick weather device if you put a sock in it?
I’ve had an aerial combat scene written for a while but I’m not sure how to describe the environment that would make it work. In in the heat of pursuit, my very salty Captain is frustrated at his ...
- 7,527
5
votes
3
answers
841
views
How to make a hybrid mapping system for aircraft on barren planets without celestial or compass use?
My captains and pirates belt out lots of navigational commands and jargon, but none of it can relate to terrestrial maps. So I’m needing a system they use in transit and combat, that they will ...
- 8,179
4
votes
1
answer
199
views
How would one navigate and explore a planet with a non-euclidian surface using current technology?
On this planet space is non-euclidian in an non-uniform way. This means that two random points (A and B) on this planet could have the following properties (exact numbers are arbitrary):
One could ...
- 14.1k
8
votes
7
answers
2k
views
How do I calculate sea level on a planet with no seas?
On one (of many) of the planets that I am planning out, there are no seas. The planet is mainly composed of enormous mountains, with some deserts in between.
There are no seas or large bodies of ...
- 2,220
3
votes
6
answers
958
views
How do Elves give directions at the North Pole?
In this setting, Santa and all his elves live in a village centered on the North Pole. This town is basically a Christmas-themed Hidden Elf Village. Obviously, Santa leaves every year to deliver ...
- 92.8k
51
votes
29
answers
8k
views
How long can it really take to calculate a hyperspace jump?
It is a common trope in sci-fi that engaging a vessel's faster-than-light travel requires performing some complicated mathematics that takes a non-trivial amount of time.
I want to know to what extent ...
- 55.2k
31
votes
14
answers
9k
views
In a world without stars, how would travelers navigate at night?
On Earth, sailors would navigate the oceans at night by using the stars as guides; since there are no landmarks in the ocean like there are on land (save for the occasional island), that's pretty much ...
- 10.4k
4
votes
2
answers
321
views
How far apart would "rooms" need to be in a 3-D maze and still be hard to navigate
I'm creating a world that takes place in an infinitly big 3-D maze. This means there can be branches in any direction (not that there's one main place, just from each "room"), even directly ...
CommunityBot
- 1
11
votes
6
answers
818
views
How would a world with drifting land-masses be mapped/charted for navigation?
Context
The world is made of floating islands suspended in the atmosphere. For all intents and purposes, the world doesn't have a solid surface.
Due to a magical influence, islands rise from the ...
- 66
5
votes
3
answers
118
views
What's a persistent weather condition that could justify being unable to use the Sun to obtain a bearing?
I'm attempting to plot an unplottable piece of land. The basic idea of the concept is that travelers who end up within the land will get lost because there's simply no way to get one's bearing, except ...
- 894
35
votes
14
answers
3k
views
Rural broomstick navigation on a moonless night
These days we have so much street lighting that the stars are blocked out, and cities are easily seen from space. That wasn't the case a few centuries ago. Flyers in the middle ages (witches on ...
- 2,220
5
votes
2
answers
162
views
Navigation and time-keeping on a slow spinning planet
I'm working on a story set on a planet that spins very slowly. Days and nights last years, and since it's either scorching hot or freezing cold, people, animals and all living beings must travel ...
- 122k
18
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Celestial navigation in a 4D universe
4D objects can rotate in two independent planes simultaneously, giving them 2 equators (great circles where the planes of rotation intersect the surface) and no poles.
Both equators are objectively ...
- 66.2k
9
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Could a greek or roman boat be blown to the americas in a storm?
This question prompts me to evaluate the possibility that the romans or greeks could be blown in a storm to the Americas and survive if they had enough water provisions?
Or maybe not provisions but ...
- 14.5k
0
votes
4
answers
194
views
Would a torsion balance be able to determine the poles of a planet which has no magnetic field?
My explorers will be using a torsion balance to weigh their new planet, which has no satellite, no magnetic field, and has a perpetual cloud cover. Is there a way to also use a torsion beam to ...
- 21.8k
7
votes
3
answers
416
views
How do I create a secret steampunk navigation scheme?
I need a hidden outpost to have signs that only a certain real-world technology can see and comprehend. These are basically road markers, or navigation aids, that won't be understandable by normal ...
- 63.6k
6
votes
2
answers
363
views
Age of sail navigation tools for a planet with a ring
Alright so I have a planet where the locals are about seventeenth century level of technology, meaning sailing ships and single shot black powder weapons are the standard and there is plenty of ocean ...
- 10.4k
2
votes
3
answers
407
views
Navigation on a flat earth
I'm trying to come up with ways to find one's bearings on a flat world. Here's a mock-up map I have used on the two previous discussions on the topic.
So, we have a flat plane with a sun relatively ...
- 464
2
votes
2
answers
170
views
Age of Sail ship design to face rogue waves?
I'd like to write about the golden age of piracy and this thought came to me: is there a standard way for a 1600's ship to handle a rogue wave, or does this vary by ship design?
My inexistent degree ...
- 42.2k
4
votes
4
answers
194
views
How do you navigate on a cylindrical world?
In my setting, the inhabited world is basically a huge cylinder sticking out of the pole of a gas giant with a breathable atmosphere:
Everyone lives on a side of a giant wall, basically - the top is ...
- 13.8k
3
votes
6
answers
609
views
Navigation in space
I'm trying to write a science fiction YA novel which takes place in a world with FTL travel like in star wars and star trek. One problem I've been thinking about is how a spaceship would navigate in ...
- 10.5k
23
votes
21
answers
4k
views
What would make sailing difficult?
I'm looking to write a story where the world is a lot of islands separated by rather small water expanses (about the width of the Mediterranean or maybe that and a half) and I am struggling to find a ...
- 13.9k
4
votes
3
answers
164
views
Why do VTOL faerie need a road line plan?
Imagine intelligent yet shy faerie the size of a tennis ball capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) are planning a mass migration from ...
- 44.8k
3
votes
3
answers
208
views
How to map a world that changes continuously?
This world is made of living creatures instead of land. Many, small or big, some as big as Scotland, moving around the world.
What they eat doesn't matter, how they are alive doesn't matter.
The ...
- 1,199
18
votes
19
answers
4k
views
How could a spaceship, because of mechanical issues, crash-land on a planet they weren't intending on travelling to? [closed]
Apologize in advance if this sounds too much like a story-related question, but I'll try and limit it to logistics-only as much as possible.
I have a spaceship that's travelling to a colony planet ...
- 287k
14
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How far would we have to travel to make all of our familiar constellations unrecognisable?
How far would we have to travel to make all of our familiar constellations unrecognisable? (in terms of human recognition)**
We know that groupings of stars in constellations is illusory. Two ...
5
votes
5
answers
174
views
Dropping into a new star system: how would you set up a frame of navigational references for use at planetary distances?
My question arises from how to treat navigation within an unknown star system, based on what is in that star system. System North and South can be easy to determine - just observe the directions in ...
- 40k
9
votes
3
answers
525
views
How to navigate a ringed planet at night?
I'm working on a story set in an Earth-like world but with rings (say, proportionately similar to Saturn's). I'm trying to get a solid handle on how these rings would affect the sky. For the ...
- 21.4k
13
votes
15
answers
6k
views
Why does my character have such a good sense of direction?
After asking this question (Why would a compass not work in my world?), I've been spending too much time thinking about navigation and direction - specifically, what innate sense of direction might my ...
- 92.8k
26
votes
18
answers
6k
views
Why would a compass not work in my world?
I’m trying to build a world with steampunk-level technology, but would like it if compasses didn’t work/exist (or, failing that, if they were prohibitively expensive or difficult to get hold of). The ...
4
votes
3
answers
241
views
How would cats navigate oceans?
So, these are the same cats detailed in previous questions. Intelligence is equivalent to 'human in cat bodies', they have mildly opposable thumbs, they can be bipedal temporarily (Think like bears or ...
- 92.8k
5
votes
2
answers
239
views
Importing Asian Technology and Political Support into Mesoamerica
This is the year 1400 CE. I am a prince in my early teens, belonging to the Zapotec civilization, Mexico. I always get recurring dream that in less than 4 generations, hostile people from far away ...
- 4,330
3
votes
1
answer
110
views
longitude without clocks or GPS, but artificial satellites in geosynchronous orbit
Galileo once noted you could calculate longitude, via the moons of Jupiter:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude#Noting_and_calculating_longitude
Could identifiable satellites be put in orbit ...
- 42.3k
14
votes
4
answers
590
views
Navigating storm fronts in space
Storm fronts — especially surprise storm fronts — are a popular Sci-Fi trope. Ion storms and radiation storms and neutronic storms and they invariably look 2D, like ribbons in space. But ...
- 101k
13
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How to teach the Mesoamericans seafaring?
I want to have a powerful Mesoamerican civilisation by the 1100s; one that decides to sail east and discover Europe. Earlier versions of the story had them contacted by Zheng He in the 1400s, but I ...
CommunityBot
- 1
15
votes
11
answers
5k
views
Can a low-tech sailing ship tell how deep the water is?
I'm trying to figure out the challenges faced by a low-tech civilization mapping its world. They have access to roughly Renaissance level technology, plus some (not very abundant) magic.
One question ...
CommunityBot
- 1
12
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Figuring out the Cosmic Compass (Updated)
I'm developing a fantasy setting where people can go to other planes (universes) that are not made of mostly empty space, like our universe is. Instead, you have universes made mostly (but not ...
CommunityBot
- 1
3
votes
2
answers
120
views
Navigating in a Subsurface Ocean
Based on the planet from this question.
The main thing that distinguishes this planet from, say, Europa, is the handwavium light-source, which I must assume is wrapped in a perpetual explosion wrapped ...
- 305k
15
votes
5
answers
1k
views
An Aztec ship sails east - where does it land?
Given:
An ahistorically powerful and advanced Aztec civilisation, anno late 1400s.
A set of circumstances much like the ones that led Columbus west: one mad Aztec convinced the world was rather small ...
- 191
27
votes
12
answers
6k
views
Without modern electronics, how could you determine your longitude, latitude, and altitude while lost deep underground?
Brief setting notes: it's a "basically earth" type situation, a spinning ball of rock in space with the same size and gravity and atmosphere and magnetic fields and everything else.
The main ...
- 42.3k
5
votes
1
answer
150
views
Quick! How far away is that asteroid?
How might an enterprising spacer, mining the rings of Saturn, go about quickly measuring/estimating the velocity of and distance to a nearby moving object (asteroid, habitat, pirate, etc)? Bonus ...
- 11.5k
5
votes
2
answers
137
views
Navigation on a planet with an eccentric orbit
On this planet, there is a nomadic tribe of humans who are the descendants of unwilling colonists from thousands of years prior. They are a nomadic tribe because of the incredibly extreme seasons, ...
- 1,619
0
votes
1
answer
138
views
If I could sense magnetic north, could I sense magnetic south?
In a world I am helping build there is a certain group of people with the ability to produce electricity from their bodies (and control it, I believe), an additional power I gave them was the ability ...
- 54.1k
1
vote
2
answers
271
views
Using medieval technology, what methods can be used to determine longitude?
What methods to determine longitude can be used in a medieval (1400-1500) world? How long would these methods take to learn, and how accurate would they be?
- 10.9k
56
votes
23
answers
11k
views
What could prevent players from leaving an island?
I am currently building a campaign for DnD.
The main plot plays out on an island the heroes are stranded on after their ship goes off track and sinks.
They discover that this island is ruled by ...
CommunityBot
- 1
2
votes
2
answers
312
views
Would navigation work if the magnetic poles were located at the equator?
Let's say the magnetic North Pole is and has been located around 0, 0 (off the coast of Africa) for all of human history, and the magnetic South Pole 180 degrees to the east/west. Maybe the Earth's ...
- 37.3k
11
votes
2
answers
710
views
The North Star in the ancient world sky
Question: Would a modern-day teen, trained in using the north star for directions when camping/hiking, notice a difference in how the "north star" (Polaris) works when transported suddenly to 1350 BCE?...
CommunityBot
- 1
5
votes
6
answers
1k
views
How to determine port and starboard on a rotating wheel space station?
The ISS uses port and starboard to differentiate between the two sides of the station.
(The Harmony node photographed after it was attached to its temporary location on the International Space ...
CommunityBot
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
110
views
Logic behind planets being gate realms in a regular universe [closed]
I have designed a universe with three main planets that contain life, but the three planets are impossible to reach via space travel for irrelevant reasons. What matters is that in order to get from ...
- 359