BXBX NOVEL Chapter 187: 184: Never Stop
They still vividly remembered the thunder and lightning from a few hours ago, the heavenly majesty too blinding to behold. Under such circumstances, ordinary people wouldn’t dare to step outside, let alone fly an airplane through a storm. Even a tumble dryer wouldn’t spin like that.
[Has Master Fang stopped being human? If so, can you take me with you? I don’t want to be human either.]
[Flying at night, can the geese keep up?]
[Yeah, it’s pitch dark, isn’t that dangerous?]
[In just a few hours, can they rest well?]
“Of course they can. In fact, most of the migration of geese takes place at dusk or at night; it’s just that I chose to do it during the day because that suits human habits,” he explained.
“And don’t underestimate the geese’s resilience and stamina—they are one of the few birds that can fly across the entire Himalayas.”
Bi Fang revved up the engine, and in the darkness of the night, the glider swept through the air like a giant black bird, with eighteen geese neatly aligned behind it.
“Speaking of which, I rarely travel at night, but when it comes to nighttime, you can’t help but mention the starry sky.”
Breathing in the salty, moist air, Bi Fang turned his camera towards the starry field, where the boundless night sky spun overhead.
“Thousands of years ago, our ancestors had already begun using the motion of celestial bodies to determine direction. If you can determine your location through the movement of the sun, moon, and stars, then even without navigational tools, you can still find the right direction,” he said.
[I know this one, find Polaris!]
[There’s also the Big Dipper; I learned this in kindergarten!]
[Ah, isn’t the Big Dipper the same as Polaris…]
[I push open the door and look out—wow, no stars!]
Due to the time of the live stream, the number of viewers had decreased significantly, from over two hundred thousand to around one hundred thousand, yet the barrage of comments was unrelenting, the audience’s enthusiasm undiminished.
Bi Fang estimated it was around nine o’clock in the evening. It would be two in the morning back home, yet so many people were still active?
But nowadays, people really do lack some common knowledge, confusing Polaris with the Big Dipper.
Bi Fang sighed silently, though he could understand. Nowadays, most people live in cities, and at night, the only bright thing in the sky is the moon. Sometimes, when the clouds are thick, they can’t even see the moon, so who would care about the names of invisible stars?
“Don’t be fooled by the similar-sounding names of the Big Dipper and Polaris; they are two different things. First, the number is different. Polaris is the name of a single star, while the Big Dipper consists of seven stars, named for its shape like a ladle, also known as the ‘Big Dipper Seven Stars.’
“Secondly, their functions are different. Polaris can accurately point out true north, while the function of the Big Dipper is to help us locate Polaris. Polaris lies almost directly on the extension line of the two stars at the end of the Big Dipper,” he explained.
Bi Fang looked up at the sky and began to talk about some techniques for finding and recognizing the stars; through his first-person perspective, viewers followed his gaze in search of the so-called Big Dipper Seven Stars.
“Polaris is part of Ursa Minor and is the brightest star within it. But since the rest of the stars in Ursa Minor are dimmer than Polaris, we usually need to find Polaris via the Big Dipper Seven Stars.”
“The Big Dipper is the main part of the Great Bear Constellation, situated at the tip of the Bear’s tail, shaped like a ladle. The target range is bigger, making it quicker and more convenient to identify the solitary target of Polaris,” he continued.
The Big Dipper contains six second-magnitude stars and one third-magnitude star, making it quite easy to recognize, especially in the open and less polluted seascape; once seen, it’s hard to forget.
The night sky was clear, filled with cool light, as if travelers in the quiet of a moonlit night were guided by the gods to find their way home.
[Fuck, this is the first time I’ve actually seen the Big Dipper!]
[Mom, I’m making progress!]
[Look at that little accomplishment of yours!]
[Staying up all night and seeing the Big Dipper, worth it!]
[Because I often stay up late, my liver seems a bit off; can you guys call me ‘Little Liver’?]
“From the two stars at the edge of the Dipper, in the direction of the extension line stretching about five times beyond the Big Dipper, we will find our target, the most important star pointing the direction in the northern hemisphere—Polaris. See it?” he asked.
Bi Fang stretched out his hand, followed the line with his gaze, and soon the viewers spotted the brightest star in the night sky.
“Within a fairly large area around Polaris, there are no brighter stars, so it’s exceedingly easy to locate it using this method.”
“Against the backdrop of the night sky, Polaris is less than 1 degree away from the North Pole, so once we find Polaris at night, we’ve essentially found true north.”
With the direction established, Bi Fang increased the plane’s speed, bringing forth a whistling wind through the sky.
[Wow, it’s so bright!]
[The brightness is just not on the same level as other stars!]
“Of course, Polaris is one of the few first-magnitude stars.”
Bi Fang was very happy, feeling wonderful sharing with others, just like having teammates around in his previous life.
Étienne in the back row was also engrossed in the starry sky and curiously asked upon hearing the concept of first-magnitude stars, “What is a first-magnitude star?”
“Ah, this…” Bi Fang scratched his head, “The brightness of stars is different, which relates to the temperature of the stars, distance, and so on. You know this, right?”
“Mhm.”
“Legend has it that the ancient Greek Hipparchus categorized the brightness of stars into six magnitudes based on their varying brightness, with first-magnitude being the brightest and sixth the dimmest. The brightness difference between each magnitude is about 2.5 times. In reality, there is a hundredfold brightness difference between a first and a sixth-magnitude star. But this grading has continued on and doesn’t account for the distance of the stars; it’s how we perceive their brightness from Earth.”
Étienne had an epiphany. It was the first time he had heard of this ranking concept, “Are there stars brighter than Polaris then?”
“Definitely, the division into six magnitudes was very rough. Later, scientists designated more magnitudes. If a star is a bit brighter than Altair, then its magnitude is zero. Vega is a zero-magnitude star.”
Bi Fang digressed a bit, with Polaris in sight, there’s no fear of getting lost at night, as long as it’s not a cloudy sky, so one can drive boldly and confidently.
Étienne in the back seat looked at the twinkling Polaris and asked, “Does the position of Polaris not change?”
“That’s a good question.” Bi Fang didn’t expect Étienne to ask this, but it was something he was knowledgeable about, having asked an old professor the exact same question in his previous life, “I can tell you with certainty that it will change.”
“The Earth’s axis of rotation shifts, so of course Polaris does too. In the vast universe, the solar system moves at a pace that could be called slower than a snail’s. Only after a long period of time will there be an apparent shift in Polaris’s position as seen from Earth. But given enough time, it will eventually move away from true north.”
“So Polaris refers to ‘the star that is nearest to the north celestial pole’ which we can simply understand as the star toward which the north end of Earth’s axis of rotation points. This is a definition, and the definition won’t change.”
“Polaris is not a specific star’s exclusive name but is taken on by different stars in turn. When the current star we call Polaris moves away from true north, the people of Earth will then call another star, the one the north end of Earth’s axis points toward at that time, Polaris.”
“The current Polaris is ‘Kochab’, also known as ‘Alpha Ursae Minoris.’ It is still approaching the North Pole, but in five hundred years, it will be ‘Pherkad.’ That’s why the method to determine Polaris involves using the alignment of the Big Dipper Seven Stars.”
Bi Fang’s explanation once again stunned the numb audience.
You are an expert in wilderness survival, using stars to determine direction is reasonable, but even knowing this? Isn’t that a bit too much?
[Whoa, after becoming a grand mathematician, physicist, geographer, and climatologist, has Old Fang now awakened the skill of an astronomer?]
[This is too far-fetched, what else don’t you know? Confess now!]
[The fake explorer: proficient in mathematics, physics, geography, climate, and astronomy. The real explorer: survives with blind enthusiasm, leaving teammates to save him.]
The audience’s praise made Bi Fang blush, he also knew this knowledge by chance, and without Étienne’s question, he wouldn’t have remembered it—it wasn’t an intentional display of holiness.
Clearing his throat, Bi Fang steered the conversation back, mentioning other methods of determining direction.
“Aside from Polaris, in the dark canopy of the night sky, we can also use the Orion Constellation to find our bearings. The Orion features four bright stars forming a large quadrilateral, with three smaller stars lined up in its center. We can draw an imaginary horizontal line through these smaller stars as the celestial equator, and this line would then be the east-west direction.”
“Of course, it’s different in the southern hemisphere; the Big Dipper Seven Stars might be hidden below the horizon. I’ll tell you more when I get to the southern hemisphere one day.”
[Southern hemisphere? What’s there?]
[Antarctica, or maybe Australia?]
[Why the secrecy? I’m not convinced!]
“Cough cough, that’s all for now. What will I talk about next?” Bi Fang spread his hands, “But just having a direction isn’t enough. Our route is planned; we’re heading to Denmark, and it wouldn’t do to land in Holland or Copenhagen. So, we have to use the stars not only to determine direction but also to measure latitude and longitude!”