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Without a compass

You can find North without a compass if you know what you are doing.

In the daytime, if it is sunny, you can find North, as long as you have a watch (but not a digital watch). You can point the 12 towards the sun, and halfway between the hour hand and the 12 will be North (roughly). A stick planted in the ground will have a small shadow at midday, and this will point to the North (in the Southern Hemisphere). If you were in the Northern Hemisphere, it would point South instead! Knowing that, can you see how the diagram on the left is only useful for people living in the Northern Hemisphere? It won't work like this for us in New Zealand! Do you think this picture came from a NZ or Australian website, or from an American one?

At night time, there is also a difference in how we find North. In the Northern Hemisphere, people look for the North Star (or Pole Star) which points to the North. In the Southern Hemisphere we look for the Southern Cross, which points to the South!

Draw an imaginary line between the two long axis stars of the Cross and continue it. Connect a line between the two Pointers, then draw a long line at right angles to the centre of this line.

Extend this long line to where it would intersect the line from the Southern Cross. Where these two lines cross, (the South Celestial Pole), drop to the horizon. This marks due South!