# How many ways to find North can we think of? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 24, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251 "2019-10-24T19:05:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/1 "2019-10-24T19:05:31Z")
Inspired by a couple of posts: > [@I'm surprised EVERYONE can't...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-surprised-everyone-cant/842231/34): > > I’m usually at a loss on this unless there are distinct landmarks like mountains. Drop me in a strange city (or even this city, in a strange neighborhood) and tell me to head north or die, and I’m a corpse. > [@I'm surprised EVERYONE can't...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-surprised-everyone-cant/842231/40): > > I look t the satellite antennas. - in [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=884117), I pose the question to you: between us, how many **different ways** can we think of to locate North? In a city or in the country - wherever. A couple of rules, I think: one method per poster (to start; so give us your most ingenious method); and related methods **are** allowed. I’ll start with an urban one: a recent christian burial is oriented east-west, with the headstone at the west end of the grave. From this I can identify North. j ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/2 "2019-10-24T19:18:37Z")
Half way between 12 o’clock and the hour hand if a watch\* is held flat and the hour hand is pointed at the sun. (This will get you N or S, you still need to know the sun rises in the east) \* You don’t really need a watch you just need to know the time and can picture a watch with that time on it. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/3 "2019-10-24T19:19:36Z")
Keep walking until you hit Trump’s wall. If you’re in the US walk away from it for north, if in Mexico walk towards it. edit: **sitchensis’s** thing works, but depends on hemisphere I think. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/4 "2019-10-24T20:18:22Z")
I just want to know how the satellite antenna thing works. Never been a lot of antennae around here ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/5 "2019-10-24T20:31:42Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I just want to know how the satellite antenna thing works. Never been a lot of antennae around here They’ll be pointed south, but not exactly 180 degrees opposite of due north. I can find it at night from the North star, but I usually know north and south without any help. East and west go wrong when I am on the west coast. Something in my mind wants the nearest ocean to be east of me. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/6 "2019-10-24T20:33:10Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I just want to know how the satellite antenna thing works. Never been a lot of antennae around here Geostationary satellites are over the equator. Hence dishes point south … ish. (In the northern hemisphere. North in the southern.) Depending on which one a dish is pointed to it can be fairly far to the east or west of south. If you look at a satellite farm of a teleco, cable company or some such you will see a spread of directions. The mean direction will be somewhat due south … ish. Of course it falls apart badly if you’re in Quito. Then you look to see where the mountains are. 😉 One that doesn’t work: Moss grows only on the north side of a tree, as per boy scout handbooks and such. In the rainy areas of the PNW moss grows on all sides. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/7 "2019-10-24T20:35:26Z")
If you live in, say, Chicago or Milwaukee, turn towards the lake, and then turn 90 degrees to your left. You’re now looking north (more or less). ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/8 "2019-10-24T20:36:52Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > They’ll be pointed south, but not exactly 180 degrees opposite of due north. If you’re in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere they’ll be pointed north. The reason for this is because communication satellites are usually placed in a [geostationary orbit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary_orbit), meaning they’ll be above the equator. (Explaining for Aspidistra’s benifit; I assume TriPolar knows this.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/9 "2019-10-24T20:38:21Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > If you’re in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere they’ll be pointed north. > > The reason for this is because communication satellites are usually placed in a [geostationary orbit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary_orbit), meaning they’ll be above the equator. (Explaining for Aspidistra’s benifit; I assume TriPolar knows this.) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/10 "2019-10-24T20:51:43Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Half way between 12 o’clock and the hour hand if a watch\* is held flat and the hour hand is pointed at the sun. (This will get you N or S, you still need to know the sun rises in the east) \* You don’t really need a watch you just need to know the time and can picture a watch with that time on it. I must be dense, but this doesn’t make sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/11 "2019-10-24T20:56:18Z")
Here’s a more detailed description of sitchensis’s method. > **[How to Find True North](https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/true-north.htm#pt2)** > > There's north and then there's true north. Find out how stabbing a stick in the dirt to make a shadow can help you find the true north. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/12 "2019-10-24T21:50:27Z")
Ask somebody. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/13 "2019-10-24T21:54:49Z")
Find the janitor of the building and tell him “I’ll give you this nice compass if you tell me which way is north.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/14 "2019-10-24T21:58:29Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Half way between 12 o’clock and the hour hand if a watch\* is held flat and the hour hand is pointed at the sun. (This will get you N or S, you still need to know the sun rises in the east) \* You don’t really need a watch you just need to know the time and can picture a watch with that time on it. Note that you have to compensate for daylight savings time. In the northern hemisphere, the watch points south, BTW. I knew that before the movie, but Mel Gibson described the technique in Gallipoli. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/15 "2019-10-24T21:58:58Z")
Storm the committee room where the Iran-Contra hearings are being held. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/16 "2019-10-24T22:02:38Z")
If you’re so close to the Equator that the Sun is practically on top of you at noon, look around to see if any of the trees have moss on them, or, indeed, whether you can see any trees at all. This will waste enough time for the Sun to begin to set, which means it’s now somewhat west of you, and you have your answer. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/17 "2019-10-24T22:24:38Z")
Pull out my smartphone and open the compass app. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/18 "2019-10-24T22:55:41Z")
Looking for Cassiopeia or the Plough at night and then finding the Pole Star. I read a book by some Robert MacFarlane type English nature writer that had lots of methods that could be used in nature, usually things like where an anthill was in relation to a tree and stuff like that. I can’t remember his name though. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/19 "2019-10-24T23:16:03Z")
In U.S. cities with regular grid streets, they’re mostly laid out north/south, east/west. The house numbering generally increases from some civic center. North will be the direction of North Broadway, say, that the house numbering is increasing. …Not a perfect system, no. ---
**Author:** ![steepone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@steepone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steepone)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251/20 "2019-10-24T23:28:37Z")
Jam a stick upright in the dirt then mark the end of the stick’s shadow, after an hour or so mark the end of the shadow again, draw a line between the two marks, that line will run east-west with the later mark being the eastern end, stand on the line with the east end to your right and you will be facing north [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ways-to-find-north-can-we-think-of/842251.md?page=2)