| 释义 |
celestial navigation, n.
Brit. |sɪˌlɛstɪəl ˌnavɪˈgeɪʃn|, U.S. |səˌlɛstʃ(ə)l ˌnævəˈgeɪʃ(ə)n|, |səˌlɛsdiəl ˌnævəˈgeɪʃ(ə)n|
[‹ celestial adj. + navigation n.]
†1. App.: astronomical observation intended to assign a physical location to heaven or paradise. Obs. rare.
1854L. Marsh Apocatastasis 133 The whereabouts of the modern, or apocatastatic paradise..ought to be somewhat more ‘definitely determined’ than that of the ancient Elysium; inasmuch as the application of magnetism is now made, freely, not only to terrestial but to celestlal [sic] navigation also.
2. The practice of navigating by measuring the positions of the stars, planets, etc.; = nautical astronomy n.
1922L. E. Dickson Plane Trigonom. Pract. Applic. 59 The branch of the science which makes use of observations on the sun or stars is called celestial navigation or nautical astronomy. 1925Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 10 Mar. 14/2 Naval airplane pilots..must have knowledge of celestial navigation..in order to relocate their base ship. 1991Geogr. Mag. Feb. 2/3 Columbus..corrected his westward course by celestial navigation. 2000Jrnl. Blacks in Higher Educ. 29 134/1 Holbrook has traveled to Africa and the South Pacific to document celestial navigation techniques there and how new technologies have modified those techniques.
3. The technique or practice of navigating through space; = astrogation n.
1923Chicago Sunday Tribune 11 Feb. vii. 20/2 If celestial navigation ever becomes an accomplished fact, men will have to keep away from Jupiter. 1962Times 27 Jan. 8/1 The object was to control it [sc. the spacecraft]..to move it from one direction to another in a series of manoeuvres demanded by the new science of celestial navigation. 1992B. Landon Aesthetics of Ambivalence iv. 85 When NASA opted for a figure-eight flight path for the Apollo moon mission, it demonstrated one very practical application of this problem in celestial navigation. |