Recommend to be first recognisable pattern in your night sky – The Plough.
oHow to find True North without a compass?
oRecognising Pattens by the brightest stars.
o
BSL – The Plough
The Plough
oooo
The Plough is one of the largest and
most well-known asterisms in the night sky!

Recommend to be first recognisable pattern in your night sky – The Plough
oooo
oooo
oooo
oooo
oooo
Ursa Major, The Plough
- Ursa Major is visible all year round from the UK.
o - To find Ursa Major, do a naked-eye search for the Plough in the northern sky.
o - There are seven brightest stars in the Big Dipper (see image above);
– Alkaid
– Mizar & Alcor
– Alioth
– Megrez
– Phecda
– Merak
– Dubhe
o - You can see the bright stars of Ursa Major with the unaided eye – the less light pollution there is, the more stars you will see.
o
O
Other names for The Plough
- The Plough is also known in the UK.
o - The Plough is also known in the US or Canada as The Big Dipper.
o - The Plough is also known in France as The Saucepan.
OOOO
BSL Version
oooo
BSL – How to find True North without a compass?
How to find True North without a compass?
o


Finding the North Star in the Northern Hemisphere
OOOO
OOOO
oooo
OOOO
Finding the North Star
oooo
- Locate the Plough constellation known as Ursa Major.
o - Find the bottom line outer edge of the Plough.
o - Draw an imaginary line outward from the pointer stars.
o - Stand facing the North Star.
o - When you’re facing the North Star, you ‘re facing true north.
o
o
OOOO
OOOO
OOOO
If the sky is cloudy

oooo
If the sky is cloudy
- The North Star is approximately 6 times the distance between the 2 pointer stars.
o - Look at the space between those 2 stars and then multiply that distance by 6.
o - This gives you the approximate location for the North Star.
oooo
BSL Version
oooo
oooo
BSL – Recognising Patterns by the bright stars.
Recognising Pattens by the brightest stars
o



OOOO
oooo
O
Recognising Patterns by the brightest stars
oooo
- Above one of the easiest ways to locate constellations is by recognising the patterns they form in the night sky.
o - Familiar constellations such as Orion (The Hunter), Ursa Major (The Plough), and Cassiopeia (The Queen) are easily recognisable and can be used as starting points to find other constellations.
o - Find out more about Constellation Names & visible from the UK
o - If you need to know exactly when a constellation is visible, check in live constellation visible from the UK.
o
o
o
BSL Version
oooo
oooo
Return to
- BSL – The Plough
- BSL – How to find True North without a compass?
- BSL – Recognising Patterns by the bright stars.
Back to