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Mercury has traditionally been used for an artificial horizon (see Lewis
& Clark) and it is easy to shoot stars using Mercury. It is rather hard
to come by these days and is not cheap and some worry about its safety
(I'm not one of them if used with care.)

The second part of your question, compute in advance the approximate
altitude of the star, double it and set your sextant to this value and
then look for the star in the reflecting pool. The navigational stars
are well separated and are bright so there should be no trouble in
getting the right star.

gl

P H wrote:
> Dear NavList Members,
>
> Since the nearest ocean is hundreds of miles away from where I live, I
> must use an artificial horizon in order to work with my sextant.  A
> pan filled with water works fine enough for me for observations of the
> moon at night and the sun.  Now these days both the sun and the moon
> are simultaneously visible during the day, which would allow for a fix
> on one's position - if the altitudes of both bodies can be measured.
> As you probably can guess, with all the glare I was unable to observe
> the reflection of the moon... so here is my question: are there any
> tricks that would allow one to construct a usable artificial horizon
> for the daytime observation of the moon?  And to take it one notch
> further, how about an artificial horizon for the stars and planets (at
> night, of course)?  Are there any systematic methods to ensure that
> the star reflected on the surface is indeed the one I intend to observe?
>
> Many thanks.
>
>
> Peter Hakel
>
>
>
> >


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