1 INTRODUCTION

STELLA NAVIGATION
STELLA is the System To Estimate Latitude and Longitude Astronomically. The name suggests
that the computer program performs calculations for sight reduction. Indeed it does that, not only
by precise methods, but also by plotting LOPs and solving for a fix. But STELLA does much
more. Some of STELLA's most useful tools are its planning functions. And in addition to sight
reduction, the program can determine compass error. A list of the program tools follows:

Sight Planning Calculates morning and evening star times for a moving vessel
Recommends stars for observation (expanded form of Pub. 249, Vol.1)
Produces a plot of all visible navigational objects (rectified 2102-D)
Compass Error Lists all navigational objects within range of observing instruments
Solves for compass error using azimuth or bearing
Rise/Set/Transit Calculates events for a vessel underway
Calculates events for a fixed location
Position Update Maintains a DR position and Logs it
Accepts a GPS or other external fix and Logs it
Calculates courses, speeds and distances to waypoints
Sight Reduction Provides a time-saving Editor for recording sextant observations
Plots lines of position with changeable scale and magnification
Provides strip form exhibits for observations
Provides for LOP editing
Determines a fix
Presents data summaries and plots
Almanac Creates almanacs tailored to user specifications

STELLA FOR WINDOWS: NEW FEATURES AND CHANGES

Users of STELLA versions 1.0 and 1.1 should recognize the tools listed above. STELLA 2.0 is a
true Windows program, and there are several new features and changes that should make the
program easier to learn and faster to use.
STELLA 2.0 is valid for the years 1970 to 2010 (see also Note to the Instructor in this chapter).
All of the dialog boxes are similar in structure and function and uniform in appearance. Several
have been simplified in ways that make them easier to understand; they have become more
intuitive.
The Data window is now called the Worksheet window and supports direct text entry and editing.
The Log window remains, and a new Current Track window will be found. Current Track is a
graphical tree serving as an expandable index of all logged fixes, changes of course and speed,
and observations. It allows instantaneous access to those Log entries, and permits immediate
editing and deleting, if wanted. All three windows, and others, may be open simultaneously with
their contents accessible.
The New Initial Fix task is now found on the Task menu (in versions 1.x it was located under the
File menu).

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Adding a comment to the Log is now under the Task menu. The comment will also appear in the
Worksheet window.
STELLA 2.0 Sky Charts and LOP Plots, if saved as files, can be recalled and displayed and/or
printed.
Previously a separate program was required to open an archived program Log file for viewing
and printing. Archived Logs can be read in a program window and printed by STELLA 2.0.
There are three ways to find help and instructions for the program. As expected, the Help window
is available from the STELLA menu bar, or by pressing the F1 key. Help presents an index of
topics, thorough explanations for each topic, and contains direct links to related topics.
While interactive dialogs are open, instant help is available for any specific command, data field
and data element by using the "What's This" button found at the top right corner of dialogs. The
F1 key produces the same, context sensitive help.
This User Guide is available in two forms that are part of the program installation. The Guide can
be read on the computer screen using Acrobat Reader, which is installed along with the STELLA
program. Acrobat Reader files are identified by the extension "PDF" as part of the names. The
Guide is also available in the form of Microsoft Word "documents." Because each chapter is a
separate file, users who want information about specific topics, in paper form, can print a
particular chapter (or pages) as individual documents. MS Word files are identified by the
extension "DOC."

CALCULATIONS
STELLA incorporates a number of new approaches to the mathematics of navigation. Internal
accuracy is one arc-second (1"), which amounts to about 30 meters (100 feet) on the surface of
the Earth. (Input and output formats use values rounded to 0.1', which provides a usable precision
of 3".) This high internal accuracy was chosen so that the computational software developed for
the program could be used for possible future automated observing systems.
To achieve this accuracy it was necessary to improve the sailing formulas; i.e., the mathematical
equations used for determining a ship's dead reckoned position, given the initial location, course
and speed, and time elapsed. STELLA uses new, accurate sailing formulas for rhumb line tracks,
in which the Earth's oblateness (its flattening toward the poles) is taken into account in both
Latitude and Longitude. These sailing formulas are used not only in the Position Update task, but
also whenever the ship's dead reckoned position must be computed. That means they are used by
all the tasks except Almanac (which computes geocentric data). STELLA uses a single software
module for all dead reckoning calculations, so that the accuracy of the formulas is consistently
applied throughout the program. The International Nautical Mile is used throughout the program
(1852 meters). Because of the Earth's oblateness, therefore, a minute of arc of Latitude is not
equivalent to a nautical mile.
The astronomical calculations are also carried out to an accuracy of 1" (or better). STELLA uses
a solar system ephemeris developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA and used for
spacecraft navigation and guidance. The astronomical calculations are the same as those used in
preparing the Nautical Almanac, the Air Almanac and the Astronomical Almanac. However,
beyond what these publications can provide, all of STELLA's astronomical calculations are done
for a specific time and place – whatever your ship's position is at the time you request. In other
words, the astronomical calculations are topocentric (for a particular place on the Earth’s surface)
rather than geocentric (for the center of the Earth).
A new mathematical approach to celestial sight reduction was developed specifically for
STELLA. Basically, the program uses a technique developed by astronomers for refining their

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knowledge of an approximately known orbit of a solar system object. This technique, called
"differential orbit correction," requires a series of astronomical observations of the object of
interest. To the program, your ship is that object, and its current track across the surface of the
Earth (its path since the last fix) is regarded as the orbit. This orbit, or track, is initially only
approximately known from DR positions. The goal is to improve your knowledge of the ship's
position as it changes with time. Sextant altitudes taken from the ship serve as the series of
astronomical observations used to improve the orbit. Even though these observations are made
from the object whose track (orbit) you wish to correct, that does not change the nature of the
problem. Even multiple-leg tracks can be accommodated by this method; a multiple-leg track is
simply considered a more complicated orbit. Use of this technique not only eliminates the need
for STELLA to explicitly advance or retire LOPs, but it also allows the determination of course
and speed (if there are enough observations) in addition to Latitude and Longitude.
Despite the unconventional nature of this approach to sight reduction, STELLA presents a
familiar "face." The plot that is displayed by the Sight Reduction task shows LOPs that appear to
have been advanced or retired to the time of the fix in the traditional way.
Because of the program's approach to navigation calculations, you should be aware that some
familiar navigational concepts take on a slightly different meaning in STELLA. You may also
notice that some new possibilities have opened up. Here are some characteristics of the way
STELLA implements navigational calculations compared to traditional approaches:
• STELLA does not interpolate from tables. All quantities are calculated 'from scratch' using
precise mathematical formulations. That means, for example, that the Almanac task can just as
easily, and just as accurately, produce tables at one-second intervals as at one-hour intervals.
Similarly, in Sight Reduction, an assumed position is the same as a DR position. Since tables are
not used, there is no need for an assumed position; the DR position is the only sensible one.
• The Moon and planets are as easy to use as stars. Tools have been provided for
observations of the Moon and planets as well as stars. There are no additional corrections for
which the navigator is responsible when these bodies are observed. STELLA computes
everything necessary. So, in practice, the Moon becomes a new potential target. Observed during
the day, it will allow for a daytime Sun-Moon fix. Venus can easily be observed during bright
twilight. Venus and Jupiter may be visible in marginal conditions, through thin clouds, when stars
are not.
• Reductions of observations are handled differently than in chart-based navigation. In Sight
Reduction, STELLA computes a topocentric altitude (Hc), that is, an altitude computed for the
object at the DR position with horizontal parallax taken into account. Similarly, for the Sun or
Moon, STELLA calculates Hc (and other quantities) for the limb observed rather than the center
of the disk. Since these effects are included as part of Hc, horizontal parallax and semidiameter
corrections are not applied to observations. (However, the Almanac task produces positions that
are geocentric and, for the Sun and Moon, that refer to the center of the disk, just as in the
Nautical Almanac.) In practice, these details are usually not important, but they do affect the
values of the quantities listed in the Sight Reduction strip form for solar system bodies.
• STELLA can estimate corrections to course and speed. As explained above, the sight
reduction calculations are unconventional. STELLA always computes the Longitude and Latitude
of the fix, but it also computes corrections to course and speed if the number and distribution of
observations are adequate. STELLA can use observations extending over as many as three course
or speed changes (i.e., four legs) and combine them into a single fix. As part of this process, it can
compute corrections to course and speed for each leg.

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• STELLA plots curved LOPs. The Sight Reduction task does not explicitly use LOPs in
computing a fix. However, it does show LOPs in the Latitude-Longitude plot displayed by the
Sight Reduction task. Actual celestial LOPs are circles, and STELLA represents them properly;
their curvature may be seen in the plot. More importantly, the sight reduction procedure is not
limited by the approximation that LOPs are straight lines. Therefore, observations can be taken at
altitudes above 65°, (to within a few degrees of the zenith) if feasible. This could be important in
marginal conditions when only the sky overhead is transparent enough for observations.

TIME IN STELLA
The most precise time reference that is generally available is UTC, an abbreviation for Universal
Time, Coordinated. It is a special kind of Greenwich, or Zulu, time. UTC is the time transmitted
by time broadcast services, and it is the time that GPS receivers display. (GPS uses its own time
scale internally, but the satellites broadcast the difference between the internal time scale and
UTC, so that GPS receivers can display UTC directly.) UTC is a form of 'atomic time,'
maintained by very accurate electronic clock systems at the U. S. Naval Observatory and other
facilities around the world. It is the basis for civil time in the industrialized countries. However,
since it is an electronic time scale, UTC does not exactly indicate the rotation of the Earth, which
is what carries your ship under the stars.
For all tasks other than Almanac (see below), STELLA uses UTC as its basis for both input and
output. In the two tasks that handle astronomical observations, Gyro/Compass Error and Sight
Reduction, there is a dialog data field labeled UT1–UTC, to be filled in when you enter an
observation. The value of UT1–UTC is the difference between UTC and a time scale called UT1.
UT1 is directly related to the rotation of the Earth. The difference UT1–UTC can be positive or
negative, with a magnitude up to 0.9 seconds. The difference UT1–UTC is also known as DUT1.
STELLA needs to know this value (for highest accuracy), because a ship's position with respect
to the stars is more accurately given by UT1 than by UTC.
Unfortunately, the Earth's rotation is somewhat irregular, so the time scale UT1 is not entirely
smooth; a mechanical or electronic clock cannot be made to keep UT1 time accurately. Another
way of saying the same thing is that DUT1 changes continuously and cannot be accurately
predicted more than a few months in advance. However, DUT1 is never allowed to exceed 0.9
sec. The only STELLA function noticeably affected by DUT1 is Record Observations. If the
value is not known, and cannot be obtained, the DUT1 input can be set to zero. The result will be
a negligible error in a celestial fix Longitude. The error cannot exceed 0.225'. That amounts to a
maximum East-West error of 0.225 nautical miles on the equator and 0.159 nautical miles at
Latitude 45° when the value of DUT1 is between 0.7 sec. and 0.9 sec. See also the section "UT1 –
UTC" in the Record Observations chapter for means to obtain DUT1.
The STELLA Almanac task is somewhat different than the others, since its output cannot be used
directly. Instead, it reproduces the data in the Nautical Almanac. The time scale used in the
Nautical Almanac is designated UT, but it exactly corresponds to what we have been calling
UT1. Therefore, STELLA's Almanac task assumes that you specify the input time in UT1, and its
output tables list times in UT1. This is meant to conform to the correct usage of the Nautical
Almanac. Often, however, the difference between UT1 and UTC is ignored when the almanac is
used.
STELLA uses another kind of time difference also. It is known as Delta T. It relates the
mathematical theories that predict the positions of solar system objects to their observed positions
when seen from the Earth. It too is necessary because of the Earth's variable rotation rate. In
versions 1.x of STELLA, an expression for Delta T was coded within the program. That required
periodic re-issue of the entire program. Users have requested alternative means of access to

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updated values for Delta T. Therefore, in STELLA 2.0, the value is contained in a special, small
file, and updates to that file will be issued when needed. As long as STELLA 2.0 can find the file
containing values of Delta T, program users need not be concerned with it.

NOTE TO THE INSTRUCTOR, AND OTHERS

There are good problems to be found in navigation textbooks and manuals that can be solved by
STELLA also. Some of the problems are date specific to the extent that they require positions for
celestial objects taken from almanacs available at an earlier time. For that reason, STELLA 2.0
includes an ephemeris file that extends from 1970 to 2010. When comparing manual solutions of
problems with STELLA solutions, one should be mindful that some small differences are to be
expected. Positions of celestial bodies used by the program are more accurate than positions in
almanacs. Another factor involves the relative rigor of mathematical procedures. STELLA uses
no compromises of the kind that are necessary with tables and procedures to make the manual
process tractable. On the other hand, if textbook examples and problem sets are accurately solved
by traditional methods, there should be no large differences when answers are compared to the
results given by STELLA.

WHY USE STELLA?

STELLA is one of many computer programs for navigation, but it differs from other,
commercially available, programs. STELLA is a U.S. Navy program, created and supported by
the same expert resource as the Nautical Almanac, in response to a requirement issued by the
Chief of Naval Operations. The program was designed principally to provide relief from the
burdens of table lookup and hand computations associated with open ocean navigation by
traditional means. It serves to assist not only as a backup for modern electronic systems, but also
as an independent check on inertial, satellite and other systems. It accomplishes its purpose by
incorporating rigorous mathematical methods and flexible procedures with internal accuracy that
exceeds obtainable precision of the sextant and printed tables.
STELLA is available to all Navy vessels as an independent (stand-alone) program. It is available
to MSC vessels upon formal request. The program is designed to be portable so that it can be
installed in a notebook computer, and used without requiring ship's power. To maintain both
independence and portability, it does not have provision for direct input from external sensors or
by electronic communication. However, STELLA is also incorporated in Block 3 of the
Navigation Sensor System Interface (NAVSSI).
STELLA does not produce tide and current data or chart details. The problems and methods of
coastal sailing and transits through piloting waters differ from open ocean navigation and are
beyond the scope of the requirement for STELLA.
Use of STELLA is officially authorized, encouraged and required:
(a) CNO N6 letter Ser N633C/3U560409 of 4 Feb 93, Use of Electronic Means to Perform
Celestial Navigation Calculations
(b) COMNAVSURFLANT / COMNAVSURFPAC / COMNAVAIRPAC /
COMNAVAIRLANT INST 3530.4A, 12 Mar 99
(c) CJCSI 6130.01B of 15 Jun 00, CJCS Master Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Plan,
p. F-16, (citation)
(d) U.S. NAVY, U.S. MARINE CORPS POSITIONING, NAVIGATION AND TIMING (PNT)
POLICY, Joint Letter of 27 June 00, paragraph 5.h.

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USER SUPPORT
General information about STELLA is available from the following Web address:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/DoD/software/stella/
This Web site contains information on how to obtain the latest STELLA software updates and the
latest UT1-UTC values. Note that access to the USNO STELLA Web site is restricted to users
with a ‘.mil’ address.
Authorized users may send questions or comments regarding STELLA 2.0 by e-mail to:
mailto:[email protected]
or by regular mail to:
Superintendent
U.S. Naval Observatory
Code: AA/STELLA
3450 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20392-5420
Before contacting the USNO, please be sure to check this User Guide, the on-line help, and the
STELLA web site (above) to determine if your questions have already been answered. We
welcome all comments, criticisms, and suggestions!
A wide variety of practical astronomical data and information is also available from the USNO
Astronomical Applications Web site at:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/

Technical References
American Practical Navigator (Bowditch), Vol. I and Vol. II, The Defense Mapping Agency,
Pub. No. 9, 1977.
American Practical Navigator (Bowditch), The Defense Mapping Agency, Pub. No. 9, 1995.
Hobbs, Richard R., CDR, USNR, Marine Navigation, 4th Edition, Naval Institute Press, 1997.
Maloney, Elbert S., COL USMC, Ret., Dutton's Navigation and Piloting, 14th Edition, Naval
Institute Press, 1985.
Kaplan, George H., Ph.D., "Practical Sailing Formulas for Rhumb-Line Tracks on an Oblate
Earth," Navigation, 42, No. 2, (1995) pp. 313-326.
______ "Determining the Position and Motion of a Vessel from Celestial Observations,"
Navigation, 42, No.4 (1995) pp. 631-648.
______ "A Navigation Solution Involving Changes to Course and Speed." Navigation, 43, No. 4
(1996) pp. 469-482.
Weldon, Ronnie L., QMCS (SW), Quartermaster 3, NAVEDTRA 10157, 1985.
Weldon, Ronnie L., QMCS (SW), Schwerr, Gary L., QMCS, and Wood, Lawson G., QMC (SS),
Quartermaster 2, NAVEDTRA 10158, 1986.

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