Satellite navigation is standard in ocean navigation, while astronavigation plays a role as emergency navigation. The current standard for this is still the intercept method developed by French frigate captain Marcq Saint Hilaire. Without question, this work was an epoch-making achievement at the time and shaped navigation in maritime and aviation until well into the last century. The irony of history is that it was previously unknown practitioners, a merchant captain and a naval officer, who, with their so-called new astronomy, founded an entire era in global navigation, thereby supplanting the work of world-renowned scientists of the time, because it was too computationally intensive.
For centuries, scientists, sailors, craftsmen and scholars have sought methods to make maritime navigation safer, and they have always used the most modern means of their time to do so. However, the further development of astronavigation came to a standstill with the introduction of satellite navigation. If someone wanted to use astronavigation as an emergency backup, then to this day this is only possible with this archaic intercept method. The same applies to sailors who just want to travel with a sextant on a whim. Sailing is a classic way to travel, and navigating with a sextant is a perfect fit.
Astronomical navigation has hardly benefited from the enormous advances in computer technology in recent decades. Computer apps in which Saint Hilaire’s altitude method has been digitised are not progress, but rather a clinging to a temporary solution. This may sound disrespectful to some, but it is plausible. If computers had already existed in the 19th century, Saint Hilaire’s lline of position method would never have exist.
At the beginning of the 19th century, methods were known for finding a location at sea by direct calculation. However, due to their computational intensity, they could not survive in practice. It is only thanks to this circumstance that Saint Hilaire’s graphical method was able to establish itself worldwide, despite its limitations.
It has long been possible to replace Saint Hilaire’s graphical method with a better analytical method. However, it has a strong staying power, and so attempts are merely being made to repaire the restrictions of this method, which can only be achieved to a limited extent. Meanwhile, competense in astronomical navigation continues to decline, which must be attributed to the continued adherence to classical methods. This is not only unfortunate, but also worrying, because astronavigation is the method of choice when, for example, an emergency backup needs to have. But this is precisely why more effective methods are needed.
The task of astronavigation is no longer to be able to completely replace satellite navigation in an emergency. What is needed is a new form of astronavigation that is as simple as satellite navigation, except for the use of a sextant, and is limited to the sun. A practical solution is to navigate using an electronic map on the display of a mobile phone or tablet. The moon, stars and planets are not essential for survival in an emergency, and the sun is sufficient if someone feels like navigating with a sextant.
New astronavigation requires new teaching, which is covered in detail on this web-side. Numerous illustrations, graphics and tables help to ensure that the theoretical and mathematical parts of the content in particular can be understood.