Measuring distance in the sky is a nifty trick that can help you determine the size or length of objects in the sky, or even how much daylight remains until sunset.
You can use distance measuring in the sky to:
- Find sun dogs.
- Estimate how much sunlight is left before sunset.
- Locate stars and constellations.
- Look for weather or astronomical phenomenon based on degrees given.
How To Measure Distances In The Sky
Use these tips for measuring distances to locate whatever you want with only your hand and fingers:
- Your clenched fist is about 10 degrees wide when held at your arm’s length from your eyes.
- The width of your little finger measures roughly 1 degree at arm’s length
- Spreading your little finger and thumb as far as you can and then holding them at arm’s length will provide a measurement of about 25 degrees, tip to tip.
And remember…
- Turning from North onto East, then South, West, and back to North is 360 degrees.
- The distance from the Eastern horizon to the Western horizon is 180 degrees.
- The distance from any horizon to the zenith (right above you) is 90 degrees.
