Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness-Chapter 710 707 Occupying a Spot
Chapter two isn't finished yet, just holding a spot to maintain attendance. I'll have it revised before 1 AM.
The aurora improved everyone's visibility and also accelerated the pace of the sled dogs.
The endurance of the sled dogs is excellent, and if they're let loose to run, they could keep going for the better part of a day without any issues. However, considering the load and the number, after two hours, Bi Fang pulled on the dogs' harness and stopped the sled to take a break.
"Two hours, we must have covered at least twenty-five kilometers. That's much faster than I could walk."
The normal walking speed of humans in snow is only about three kilometers per hour, which means that without the help of the sled dogs, it would have taken Bi Fang at least a whole day to cover the same distance, and even that might not have been enough. But the three fools had accomplished this in just two short hours.
"Of course, this is just the speed when they start out full of energy. It will get slower after this, the pace might even halve. But it will still be much faster than if I were walking by myself. Maybe we'll even reach the coast by tonight."
Bi Fang patted Goudan, who was panting heavily, took out a dog bowl, and poured some water and food for each of the three fools, then he sat down to enjoy the beautiful night scene and chat with the audience.
Half an hour later, the rested Bi Fang advanced again, and it was not until the third break that the viewers began to question because they noticed that Bi Fang's rest times were too regular: two hours of running followed by half an hour of rest.
If it were ordinary times, it wouldn't matter. But how was Bi Fang determining the time?
"Ah, that's actually quite simple," Bi Fang said, pointing to the sky.
Even without a watch or the sun, Bi Fang still had many ways to judge the time, and he wouldn't let it affect his actions. For instance, he could look at the moon in the sky, or he could simply ask the viewers in the live stream.
Cough cough, of course, the last method smells a bit like cheating. Unless it's an emergency, Bi Fang usually prefers to rely on his own methods to tell the time.
Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.
"In the wilderness, telling time is often not so critical because, most of the time, you don't actually need this thing."
Surviving in the wild is not like living in a city; there's no one to dictate when you should do what. Everything is up to you to decide.
To survive, you need only food, water, and fire.
The procurement of these three necessities only slightly correlates with time when hunting for food, and even then, it's not that significant. You just need to avoid the twilight and night times when predators are most active.
Until now, Bi Fang had never encountered the polar night phenomenon. He was used to the routine of working with the sunrise and returning at sunset. However, since he was now depending on dog sledding, regular breaks based on time were necessary to improve efficiency.
"That's why I never talked about how to tell time before. Actually, it's quite simple."
"Sun, moon, and stars, rising in the east and setting in the west, never ceasing in their motion. The rising and setting of celestial bodies act like a natural clock. In astronomy, by observing stars with precision instruments, you can determine the exact time."
"But by using simple methods to watch the stars, we can also tell the approximate time. Although the precise process is different, the basic principle remains the same. It's generally not needed in the wilderness, but it can be quite useful for those who travel at night."
[Eh, you can tell time by the stars?]
[I understand using the sun, and maybe the moon too, but aren't stars a bit of a stretch?]
[I always thought stars were only used for navigation, Old Fang. Are you confused or just rattled by the cold?]
[Experience proves that everyone who doubted Old Fang ended up being proven wrong in the end. Just take out your notebooks and start learning, folks!]
Some were skeptical of Bi Fang's claim. The sun and the moon make sense, the former is easy to tell the time by, and the latter is doable, although more difficult. But stars, that sounded far-fetched!
[By the way, why is there no moon tonight, isn't it clear skies?]
Speaking of the moon, many viewers suddenly noticed that despite the clear, starry sky, there was no moon to be seen.
"Of course there isn't, when 'Arctic night' arrives. Only during half of the month can we see the moon, whether full or crescent, rotating all day around the sky. During the other half of the month, the moon is not visible, and obviously, now is that half when we cannot see the moon, otherwise I wouldn't need to use the stars to tell the time," Master Fang explained.
[I want to learn, give me the lowdown.]
Bi Fang raised a finger toward the sky: "Do you see the Big Dipper Seven Stars up there?"
From the first-person perspective, the viewers easily found the Big Dipper Seven Stars that Bi Fang was pointing out and acknowledged in agreement.
"Previously, I mentioned that if we face north and then extend the line from the two stars at the end of the Big Dipper's bowl five times longer, we can find Polaris."
"Now, we take Polaris as the center of a clock face, with the line from the pointer stars to Polaris as the hour hand. Divide the clock face into twelve equal parts: at the top is 12, on the right is 3, at the bottom is 6, on the left is 9, and this, is the Big Dipper Clock."
Due to the consistent perspective, what Bi Fang saw and pointed out was crystal clear, so there was no chance of error. With his guided assistance, the viewers easily imagined a large clock.
[The Big Dipper Clock, that's a cool name.]
"Since the stars rise in the east and set in the west, the hour hand of the Big Dipper Clock moves in the opposite direction of a regular clock's hands. After 12 o'clock, it points to 11 o'clock, then successively to 10, 9, 8, 7... and so on. Although the direction of the Big Dipper Clock's hour hand is different from a regular clock, it can accurately show almost the same time," Bi Fang continued.
"When observing, just remember your local longitude, remember, here we express longitude in terms of time, because the Earth rotates 360° in 24 hours, so we can divide the local longitude by 15 to get the time, recognize the 'hour' number which the star clock's hour hand points to, and also consider the observation month and date. Finally, subtract a constant from it, and you will immediately get the needed time," Master Fang elucidated.
"This method can be simplified into a formula, that is, Capital time = 36.4 - longitude - 2(hour number + M)."
"M represents the number of months from January 1st up till the time of observation. If the result is negative, 24 hours must be added. As for the origin of the 36.4 hour figure, it can be understood as just a constant in the formula, which doesn't need to be understood," he clarified.
[Wow, it's profound and impressive.]
[Got it, but not quite.]
[What's clear is that Master Fang is awesome, what's unclear is how to determine time (dog head).]
"Actually, it's quite simple," Bi Fang said with a smile, "For example, on the night of June 1st in a certain year, at the Capital Astronomical Observatory, the longitude is 7 hours 45 minutes. If you see the Big Dipper Clock's hand at 10, can you figure out the current Capital time?"
Bi Fang waited a while, but seeing that only a few in the chat came up with answers, he decided not to keep them in suspense and directly drew out the solution in the snow with a stick.
"This kind of thing can actually be done mentally. Now, knowing that June 1st is 5 months from January 1st, M is 5. So, the Capital time then is..."
A simple equation appeared in the snow, enlightening the viewers.
36.4 hours - 7.75 hours - 2(10 + 5) hours = -1.4 hours.
-1.4 + 24 = 22.6 hours.
Which is 10:36 p.m.
"Sometimes when the Big Dipper Seven Stars are not visible, but the Cassiopeia constellation, which is almost exactly opposite to it, has risen, we can still use it by considering the line from Beta Cassiopeiae to Polaris as the 'hour hand.' The division of the clock face and the direction of rotation remain the same as with the Big Dipper Clock."
