Astrolabe

Astrolabe, A very old tool that people

used before there was a sextant. The
navigator would spin it until it was
lined up with the sun or the North star.

Ship's logbook

Every shipıs captain has almost always had

a logbook. Each day the captain will
record how far the ship has gone, and the
directions they went. The captain also
writes things about his crew. A captain
will record if he saw any landmarks.

Compass

Magnetic compasses were very

valuable to explorers. They pointed
North so people could tell which way
was North, South, East, and West.

Back Staff

The back staff gave the ship's

latitude by siteing the sun, which
was too bright to look at long
enough to use the cross staff. The
navigator stood with his back to the
sun, Then lined up the back sight
and the vane with the horizon.

Cross- Staff

The cross staff told you how far away the sun

was. It was made by putting two pieces of
wood together. One was long and had measure
meanest on it. The outher one was short and
able to move. you moved the short ship
towards the sun and see the measure meanest
on the long peise of wood.

Sextant

Explorers used the sextant to find the position

of their ship. The sextant had two mirrors.
They showed the sun and horizon. You put the
two mirrors together and then look at the
measurement.

Bearing Circle

The Viking made a bearing

circle. It told the sun's
position. At sunrise and set.
The Vikings found the Bearing
circle in Osterbygda, Greenland.

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