Sunset and its significance for travelers

Like other natural phenomena, in the human history of various civilizations, the Sun was the object of worship. His cult existed in ancient Egypt, where this deity was called Ra. Among the Greeks, the god of the Sun was Helios, who traveled through the sky on his chariot of chariots every day. The Slavs had the same deity as Yarilo. In the states of East Asia, this tendency is also traced: the Moon and the Sun were considered opposites - Jan and Yin.

In Indo-European languages, the celestial luminary is denoted by a term that contains the root sol. This part of the word has migrated to Latin, Spanish, Icelandic, Portuguese, Swedish, Catalan, Norwegian and Galician. Even in English, the term sol (most often in the scientific context) is used to refer to this heavenly luminary. At the same time, in Slavic speech, there is a connection with the word-forming root of the Indo-European language.

Such close attention to the heavenly light, which became a cult of many nations and tribes, is explained by its immense significance for the economy of those times. Agriculture fully depended on the favor of the Sun and its generous rays. Do not underestimate the value of this star for orientation, since even from ancient times astronomy served as a way to navigate - from the results of measurements of the position of celestial bodies depended very much. There was nothing worse for the captain of the ship, the caravan in the desert or an experienced traveler than the overcast sky. It was in those days that the term "guiding star" originated, which is still a symbol of the fact that everything is not lost, so do not give up.

Determination of coordinates by the Sun

In those early times, when there was no compass yet, and the compiled maps left much to be desired for the accuracy of their performance, people used natural luminaries for orientation. These methods of determining the position in space were calculated empirically, but later received confirmation during the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries. However, until the eleventh century, which became the century of the compass in Europe, the only way to determine the guiding thread for all guides and captains was the star closest to Earth. Sunrise and sunset was perceived as an event.

The sun could give both hope and a curse. The first travelers who reached the southern, tropical or equatorial latitudes were discouraged by the difficulties in determining their position in space in these territories. This is a very simple explanation: the sunrise and sunset allows you to determine its azimuth accurately enough, but when you reach the zenith it became an impossible task for navigators of that time. Only with the change in the person's worldview regarding the structure of the planet and its position in the universe did the knowledge base begin to replenish, and this problem was solved.

Location Methods

Despite the archaic nature of such observations, they have not lost their relevance for modern travelers who are armed with GPS navigation and accurate maps, because the movement of the star closest to the Earth in the sky demonstrates an enviable regularity. This is very helpful in extreme situations, when technical means for some reasons can not come to the rescue. Let's move on to a detailed consideration of the generally accepted methods of orientation, which tourists and other nature lovers use. The simplest solution for using the nearest star as a navigator for walking or traveling is to memorize its position at a certain time. But for this there is no need to track its movement over the sky, it is enough just to keep in memory the place where the sun rises or sets at this time of the year. At the end of the route, you will need to remember where the star was at the specified moment, and move in the necessary direction.

Definition of the south, the server, the west and the east

It is much more difficult to determine the sides of the world, because for this you need to know the techniques from the basic geometry and geography. For example: it is well known that in the Northern Hemisphere, the sunrise begins in the east, and the sun sets in the west. However, these data are not entirely correct. Depending on the season, these processes can gravitate both to the south-west and east, which requires making significant adjustments for those planning a route.

Another conditionally effective way, which gives an error of up to 10 degrees, can be the use of "sun hours". To do this, the rod is clogged in the soil, and then the position of the cast shadow is fixed after 20 minutes. By connecting its extreme points, you can get the eastern direction, and from it - the rest of the world.

Organization of events

When planning a route for tourists it is important to take into account the duration of a daylight, because the time of sunset is known in advance, astronomers publish this data in an easy access. The result of such planning will be the optimal use of efforts to overcome the elements of the landscape and the convenience of equipped halts.

For the organization of walks in the vicinity of the Russian capital in the coming days, you can use the following data.

Such planning will help to organize leisure properly and stop in time to rest or camp.