NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
CelNav without sextant
From: Alexandre Eremenko
Date: 2004 Nov 2, 13:00 -0500
From: Alexandre Eremenko
Date: 2004 Nov 2, 13:00 -0500
What sort of Cel Nav can you do without sextant? (Assuming you have an almanac and chronometer. Or your wristwatch and radio to check it). Apparently yes. I am not speaking of eclipses which are rare events. One method was already discussed: timing the occultations of stars by the dark edge of the moon, a method slightly less precise than that of lunar distances because the distance is too small, and only available for somewhat less than 1/2 of each month, when the moon moves with its dark edge forwardis:-) Another method was proposed by Bill in our recent off-the-list conversation: timing the rise and set of various bodies. Each such timing gives you one position line. It is interesting, how precise can this method be. (I understand that the major obstacle here is refraction). Alex.