Chapter 184 Never Stop
Before the audience could recover from the storm, Bifang was about to set out on the journey again, which made people worry whether the intensity of the migration was too high.
They could still vividly remember the lightning and thunder a few hours ago. The mighty power of heaven was too great to look directly at. Under such circumstances, ordinary people didn't even dare to go out, let alone fly a plane through the storm. Even a washing machine couldn't spin that fast.
[Is Fangshen no longer a human being? If so, can you take me with you? I don’t want to either. ]
[Can the wild geese keep up with us if we fly at night? 】
[Yeah, it's dark, won't something happen? ]
[Can you rest well in just a few hours? ]
"Of course. In fact, most geese migrate at dusk or at night, and I chose daytime just because it is in line with human habits."
"And don't underestimate the resilience and endurance of wild geese. They are one of the few birds that can fly across the entire Himalayas."
Bifang started the engine, and in the night, the glider flew across the sky like a giant black bird. With it as its eyes, eighteen wild geese lined up neatly behind it.
"Speaking of which, I seldom travel at night. Speaking of night, I have to mention the starry sky."
Breathing in the water vapor with salty breeze, Bifang turned the camera to the starry sky, and the endless starry sky was spinning above his head.
"Thousands of years ago, our ancestors had already begun to use the movement of celestial bodies to determine their orientation. If you can determine your orientation , then you can still find the correct direction even without any navigation tools."
[I know this, look for the North Star! ]
[There is also the Big Dipper, which I learned in kindergarten! ]
[Ah, isn’t the Big Dipper the North Star…]
[I opened the door and saw, wow, there were no stars! ]
Due to the time of the live broadcast, the number of people in the live broadcast room dropped a lot, from more than 200,000 to about 100,000, but the barrage did not decrease at all, and the enthusiasm of the audience was still high.
Bifang estimated that it should be nine o'clock in the evening, and it should be two o'clock in the morning in China. How could there still be so many people active?
But people nowadays really lack common sense. They can't even tell the difference between the North Star and the Big Dipper.
Bifang sighed silently. Actually, he could understand it. Nowadays, most people live in cities. At night, the only bright thing in the sky is the moon. Occasionally, when the clouds are thicker, even the moon cannot be seen. In this case, who would care what the names of the invisible stars are?
"Although the names of the Big Dipper and the North Star sound similar, they are completely different. First of all, the number is different. The North Star is the name of a single star, while the Big Dipper is composed of seven stars. It is named because its shape resembles a bucket, so it is also called the 'Big Dipper'."
"Secondly, their functions are different. The North Star can accurately point out the true north direction, while the function of the Big Dipper is to help us find the North Star. The North Star is on the extended line connecting the two stars below it."
Bifang raised his head to look up at the starry sky and talked about some techniques of searching and identifying. In the first person, the audience directly followed his perspective to find the so-called Big Dipper.
"The North Star belongs to the Ursa Minor constellation and is the brightest star among them. But because all the stars in the Ursa Minor constellation except the North Star are relatively dim, we usually need to find the North Star based on the Big Dipper."
"The Big Dipper is the main body of the Ursa Major constellation, located at the tail of the Big Bear, and is shaped like a spoon. The target range is larger, and it is faster and more convenient to confirm a single target, the North Star, through it."
Among the seven stars of the Big Dipper, six are second-magnitude stars and one is a third-magnitude star. They are very easy to identify, especially in a vast and less-polluted place like the sea. It is hard to forget them once you have seen them.
The night sky is clear and filled with bright light, as if a traveler has come to the quiet moonlit night and is finding the way home according to God's guidance.
[Fuck, this is the first time I’ve actually seen the Big Dipper in my life! ]
[Mom, I've made it! ]
【Look at what you have accomplished! 】
[It’s worth staying up late to see the Big Dipper! ]
[Because I often stay up late, my liver seems to be not in good condition. Can you call me Little Liver? ]
"If you extend the line connecting the two stars at the edge of the bowl, which is the Pole Star, outward about five times the distance from the mouth of the bowl, you will find our target, the most important star in the northern hemisphere that indicates direction, the North Star. Do you see it?"
Bifang stretched out his finger and looked along the line, and the audience soon found the brightest star in the night sky.
"There is no brighter star than the North Star in a fairly large area near it, so it is very easy to find it using this method."
"On the background of the starry sky, the North Star is less than 1 degree away from the North Pole. Once we find the North Star at night, we have basically found true north."
With a direction in mind, Bifang increased the speed of the plane, bringing with it a gust of wind that whistled across the sky.
[Wow, it’s so bright]
[The brightness is totally different from other stars! ]
"Of course, the North Star is one of the few first-magnitude stars."
Bifang was very happy. It felt great to share the beauty with others, just like having teammates around him in his previous life.
Etienne in the back row was also fascinated by the starry sky. When he heard about the concept of first-magnitude stars, he asked curiously, "What is a first-magnitude star?"
"Ah, this..." Bifang scratched his head, "The brightness of stars is different. It's related to the temperature of the star, the distance and so on. Do you know this?"
"Uh-huh."
"According to legend, the ancient Greek Hipparchus divided starlight into six levels based on the different brightness levels, with the first-magnitude star being the brightest and the sixth-magnitude star being the dimmest. The brightness difference between stars of each magnitude is about 2.5 times. In fact, the brightness difference between the first-magnitude star and the sixth-magnitude star is 100 times. But this level of description has continued to this day, regardless of the distance of the star. This is the brightness that appears when we observe the stars from Earth."
Etienne suddenly understood. This was the first time he had heard of this concept of hierarchy: "Is there a star brighter than the North Star?"
"Of course there are. The six-level division is very rough. Later, scientists developed more levels. If a star is brighter than Altair, then its magnitude is 0. Vega is a 0-magnitude star."
Bifang changed the subject and said that with the North Star, it is impossible to get lost at night as long as the sky is not cloudy, so you can drive boldly with confidence.
Etienne, who was sitting in the back seat, looked at the glittering North Star and asked, "Will the position of the North Star not change?"
"That's a good question." Bifang didn't expect Etienne to ask this question, but it was well within his knowledge. In his previous life, he had asked the old professor the same question. "I can tell you with certainty that it will change."
"Earth's rotation axis will turn, not to mention the North Star. In the vast universe, the speed of the solar system's movement can be said to be slower than a snail. Only after a long time will the relative position of the North Star seen from Earth change significantly. But as long as time passes, it will sooner or later leave due north."
"So the North Star actually refers to 'the star closest to the north celestial pole'. We can simply understand that the star that the north end of the Earth's rotation axis points to is the North Star. This is a definition, and the definition will not change."
"The North Star is not a specific name for a certain star, but is taken up by different stars in turn. When the star we now call the North Star leaves the true north, the people on Earth will then call another star that the north end of the Earth's rotation axis points to the North Star."
"The current North Star is 'Alpha Ursae Minoris', which is still approaching the North Pole, but in 500 years, it will become 'Alpha Ursae Minoris', so the method of determining the North Star is to use the line connecting the Big Dipper."
Bifang's explanation once again shocked the numb spectators.
You are an expert in wilderness survival, so it's not excessive for you to use the stars to determine the direction, but isn't it a bit inappropriate that you even know this?
[Fuck, after becoming a great mathematician, physicist, geographer, and climatologist, has Lao Fang awakened the skill of an astronomer? ]
[Li Dapu, what else can't you do? Tell me the truth! ]
[Fake explorer: proficient in mathematics, physics, geography, climate, astronomy, real explorer: relying on passion, let teammates save him. ]
The audience's praise made Bifang blush. He knew this knowledge by accident. If Etienne hadn't asked him, he wouldn't have remembered it. He really didn't mean to show off in front of others.
After coughing twice, Bifang returned to the topic and talked about other methods of determining direction.
"In addition to the North Star, we can also use the Orion constellation to determine our direction in the dark night sky. Orion is surrounded by four bright stars forming a large quadrilateral, and in the center of the quadrilateral are three small stars side by side. We can draw an imaginary horizontal line through the small stars, which is the celestial equator, and this line is the east-west direction line."
"Of course, if it's the southern hemisphere, it's different. The Big Dipper may be hidden below the horizon. I'll tell you when I get to the southern hemisphere."
【Southern Hemisphere? What's there? 】
Antarctica or Australia?
[Why are you still hiding it? I don’t accept it! ]
"Ahem, I've finished talking. What shall I talk about next?" Bifang spread his hands. "But just having a direction is not enough. We have a plan for our route. We are going to Denmark. It would not be good to fly to the Netherlands or Copenhagen. So we not only have to use the stars to determine the direction, but also to measure the longitude and latitude!"
