Where is north facing

An unforgiving mountain range of sharp snow-covered peaks breaks the horizon along Interstate 90 and greets drivers headed west from Bill The inspiration for our custom silk maps comes from the original 'escape and evasion' maps that WW2 pilots would sew into the lining of Ten ways to find true north without a compass.

Posted on July 18 , by Nick Taggart If you have spent any time in the woods, then you've been lost. Well, my friend, here are ten different ways to save your butt: Stick shadow: Place a stick in the ground vertically.

Mark the tip of the shadow with a small stone. Wait 20 minutes, then mark the tip again with another stone. Draw a line between the two sticks, et voila - that line is East-West. And if you are in the northern hemisphere, South is towards the stick. North star : Look up. Polaris, the North Star, points true north. It is the last star in the handle of the Little Dipper.

If you can't find that, find the Big Dipper, the outer stars of the cup point right to Polaris. Southern Cross: If you're in the southern hemisphere, find the Southern Cross. Follow and imaginary line, beginning with the long axis towards the horizon for a distance of approximately 5 lengths.

From the end of that line, draw a line directly to the horizon. Also, when the direction is mentioned, it's in regard to what direction one is facing when looking out of the window.

If you are looking north out of the window, it's a north window. I'm not trying to sound like a smarty pants here, but grab yourself a compass and face your window. For the longest time I thought I had a South window, but when I grabbed a compass, I realized that it's a Southeast window more East than South at that.

Also, see where the sun rises and sets in relation to your windows. That's how I was gauging initially that my window was South. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.

But, a better determination IMO would be a compass. My house is an easy one! We can watch sunsets from the front windows West and sunrises from the back East. If looking out my front window, I turn to the left and the windows face the south; right is north. Just locate where the sun goes down tonight in the horizon and you'll know that that's due West.

That's all you need. You can also look at your road on a map, or in Google maps, etc. In case you don't know, maps are oriented with north at the top. Now stand so that with your left arm still pointing to sunrise when your right arm is extended, it is pointing to where the sun sets. A compass may give you more precise orientations for particular spots inside your house, but this will give you a rough idea of where everything is.

If your arms are extended outward, you'll be facing South. I always get my left and right mixed up. And I tried so hard! Actually, the Sun only rises "due" east and sets "due" west on 2 days of the year. Only on the spring and fall equinoxes. Fans of bold or dark colors may want to confine them to south-facing rooms, which get enough light all day to stand up to intense tones.

Remember: The direction that your yard faces determines the amount of sunlight it receives. A south-facing yard will have sun all day, so sun-loving plants may flourish there, as will sun-loving people.

A south-facing yard may also be a fine location for a swimming pool. Disclosure: BobVila. You agree that BobVila.

Simply observe the direction of the sun the line the sun takes , face yourself in that direction and North will be 90 degrees perpendicular to this line on your right. If the center star of Orion's belt shows North then why is East on the left? Whenever I face North, West is always on my left. I presume you're in the northern hemisphere. Orion is on the equator. In order to see Orion high in the sky , you have to be looking south.

Therefore, east will be on your left and west on your right. North is in back of you. The center star does not "show north" all by itself. There are actually several stars involved, and a galaxy. You can draw a straight line through the sword, the middle star of the belt, his head Meissa , and the North Star.

Not Helpful 20 Helpful Spiders spin their webs to face true south, so true north would be the opposite of what the web is facing.

Not Helpful 51 Helpful Sometimes a little sunlight gets past the clouds. If you cant see the shadow, try looking for a place where more light gets through. Still cant find it? Then just wait for the rain to stop. Not Helpful 45 Helpful In the above article, the subject is finding true north. Polaris is positioned right over the physical North Pole of Earth.

Magnetic north can be several degrees removed from that pole in several different directions, depending upon where you are on Earth longitude. Not Helpful 16 Helpful Finding true north can help you find your way to civilization. Before you leave to go in the woods, mark if you are traveling east, west, south or north from your house; true north can help you if you know what direction you came from. Not Helpful 7 Helpful Yes, it does. If the sun rises at a certain time, the watch would need to be in sync with the sun.

Not Helpful 8 Helpful 7. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. This helps rescuers find your location and get you to safety. If you keep moving, rescuers will have to track you, delaying their work. Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0. Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published.

Related wikiHows How to. How to. More References About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: May 6, Categories: Featured Articles Navigation and Directions. Article Summary X To find true North at night without a compass, locate the North Star if you live in the Northern hemisphere, which is the last star in the handle of the Little Dipper constellation.

Italiano: Trovare il Nord Senza Bussola. Nederlands: Het noorden vinden zonder kompas. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 2,, times.