ReedNavigation.com

Classes in celestial navigation and related topics
 

Expert Celestial

Winter / Spring 2026:
  • Register Apr 27,28,29 PACIFIC session: 8pm-11:45pm US Eastern time (0100-0445 UT next calendar day), online.

Explore the underlying concepts and math of celestial navigation including spherical triangles, azimuth calculations, great circle distance, and other exotic topics. We'll learn refined methods for taking sights and eliminating the smallest errors in sextant observations, and we'll learn all about standard Moon sights. We'll explore the principles behind various methods of sight reduction as well as calculator-based azimuth calculations.

Forward-looking, modern, and calculator-based, this workshop is an excellent sequel to our "Modern Celestial" and "Advanced Celestial" workshops. More history, more science, more math, more navigation!

All workshops: $ 149 per person, per workshop

Created and taught by Frank Reed, celestial navigation and astronomy consultant on the team that found Shackleton's "Endurance" in 2022. Also a recent guest expert in celestial navigation on Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk on The National Geographic Channel.

If you're registered for an online workshop, you're invited to attend hour-long sextant practical sessions in Rhode Island and Connecticut scheduled as weather and other factors permit. These live, in-person sessions are included in your registration for online classes.

Comments:


Lee Schacter wrote:
A great course and teacher. Finally got my head around celestial navigation...
John Brown wrote:
Frank
Thanks for a great app. The new option of using SI unit is really useful for us on the other side of the pond.
I have upgraded to the pro version and passed news of the upgrade to a friend learning to use her sextant. No doubt she will also relay this info.
Best regards
John Brown
Dr. Russell D. Sampson wrote:
I took Frank's 19th Century Celestial Navigation class in April 2013 and really enjoyed it. Not only was the class interesting but my fellow classmates were too; a retired skipper of a ballistic missile sub, the son of the fellow who invented GPS, a teacher, a captain of a Panamax container ship and a fellow who crossed the Atlantic solo - twice!

The class was also a great resource for my teaching and my own research interests such as the visibility of celestial objects in the daytime (Jupiter and Venus) and the effects of astronomical refraction near the horizon. I hope to take more workshops with Frank.

Dr. Russell D. Sampson
Wickware Planetarium
Eastern Connecticut State University

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