NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Beta Cap -- the tenth lunars star
From: Frank Reed CT
Date: 2004 Jan 20, 20:15 EST
From: Frank Reed CT
Date: 2004 Jan 20, 20:15 EST
Last month I noted that "Beta Capricorni" was listed in the 1778 Nautical Almanac for lunar distances, but we didn't have confirmation then as to when it was removed from the list. I had time today to check later editions of the almanac. It was gone by 1780, so I guess it was obvious very early that it was not useful in practice. This makes the list of nine standard lunars stars a remarkably stable and long-lasting group... some thirteen decades with no changes (apart from the addition of the navigational planets in 1834).
Frank E. Reed
[X] Mystic, Connecticut
[ ] Chicago, Illinois
Frank E. Reed
[X] Mystic, Connecticut
[ ] Chicago, Illinois