Compass, in navigation or surveying, the primary device for direction-finding on the surface of the Earth. Compasses may operate on magnetic or gyroscopic principles or by determining the direction of the Sun or a star.

Maps, compasses, astrolabes, and calipers are among the early tools used by ocean navigators. In the modern era, these tools have been largely replaced by electronic and technological equivalents. Despite these early beginnings, it would take many centuries before global navigation at sea became possible.

Celestial navigation requires the sailor to use an instrument, like a sextant, to find the angle between a star/planet and the horizon. The angle will tell the sailor is latitude. The first compass was used in China about a thousand year ago and in Europe about 300 years later.

sextant

A typical sixteenth-century compass consisted of a large magnetized needle fastened to the underside of a circular card on which the several directions were drawn. The compass rose, as it was sometimes called, usually had thirty-two points 11.25 degrees apart – north, north by east, north by northeast, and so on.

Earth acts as a giant magnet with magnetic poles and a magnetic field over which it exerts magnetic force. Earth has north and south magnetic poles like a bar magnet. Earth’s magnetic poles are not the same as the geographic poles. It is strongest at the poles.

Navigators find their position on the earth’s surface by observing the location of the stars. They need several things to do this: An angle-measuring instrument called a sextant, to measure the angle of the stars above the horizon. A chronometer for telling time.

A compass enables the mariner to check the position of their boat or ship to know if the boat is transversing the path of another boat or is on a collision course. For acquiring this data, plot lines are created using bearing taken with a hand bearing compass.

You pick a course on a marine chart. Then, you steer the boat so that the lubber line points to the correct degree on the compass card. You keep course by making sure the lubber line stays put. Using a compass is easy enough.

A MAGNETIC COMPASS Gimbals (gymbals) are usually used to mount marine compasses. These keep the compass bowl horizontal, even in heavy rolling and pitching, at sea. Don’t forget that any magnetic compass will point to magnetic north and readings taken will require adjustment for declination (variation).

A compass is a device that indicates direction. It is one of the most important instruments for navigation. Magnetic compasses consist of a magnetized needle that is allowed to rotate so it lines up with the Earth’s magnetic field. The ends point to what are known as magnetic north and magnetic south.

Frequency: A compass is defined as a device with magnetic needles used for showing the direction one is facing. An example of a compass is what a backpacker would use to find their way through the woods.

“The next section shows how to orient a map using a compass.”…What is another word for compass?

What is the opposite of compass?

Apart from its design as a navigational instrument, the compass is often portrayed as a symbol, known as the compass rose. This image is typically used on maps and charts to display the orientation of the cardinal directions, i.e. north, south, east and west.

Cardinal directions are the four main points of a compass: north, south, east, and west which are also known by the first letters: N,S,E, and W. These four directions are also known as cardinal points.

Say it is two o’clock, draw an imaginary line between the hour hand and twelve o’clock to create the north-south line. You know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west so this will tell you which way is north and which way south. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere then it will be the other way round.

Use a Wristwatch

1. If you have a watch with hands (not digital), you can use it like a compass. Place the watch on a level surface.
2. Point the hour hand towards the sun.
3. That imaginary line points south.
4. This means North is 180 degrees in the other direction.
5. If you can wait, watch the sun and see which way it is moving.

North, east, south, and west are the four cardinal directions, often marked by the initials N, E, S, and W. East and west are at right angles to north and south. East is in the clockwise direction of rotation from north. West is directly opposite east.

Know Direction Online Using Google Maps

1. Now, open the Google Maps app, you will see a small compass symbol in the right corner below the button for changing the map style.
2. If the compass symbol isn’t visible, you can use two of your fingers to move the map view around to find it.

The recommended sleeping direction per vastu shastra is that you lie down with your head pointed southward. A north-to-south body position is considered the worst direction.

Google Maps is relaunching the Compass feature for Android users. The Compass will be visible on the right side of the screen while a user is navigating to a destination. When the phone is rotated in any direction, the red arrow will always point north.

Users may choose between plotting a single-leg or multi-leg route and Set Compass then overlays an interactive Silva compass on a Google Map. Users can drag the compass and position it to point in any direction.