NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Jeremy C
Date: 2010 Nov 23, 07:46 EST
Andres,
Many of the features that made the Air Almanac so good in the 1940s were incorporated into the combined American/British "Nautical Almanac" (almost exactly identical to the modern Nautical Almanac) when it was released in 1958. The publications retained their separate names, "American Nautical Almanac" and "Abridged Nautical Almanac" (British) in 1958 and 1959, but they were identical in content. The name was changed to "THE Nautical Almanac" in 1960, fifty years ago. Personally, I highly doubt that this official publication will still be printed even ten years from now, let alone in another fifty. However the cost of creating a digital version is very close to zero, so it will probably continue in that way and perhaps printed for hobbyists for many years to come. I also suspect that it will split into numerous variants satisfying various small markets among navigators and navigation enthusiasts. Even lunar distance tables might make a comeback for some customers.
One feature found in some old air almanacs which I would like to see restored to modern almanacs (amateur or commercial) is the simple ecliptic diagram along the margin of the page quickly showing the elongations of the navigational planets from the Sun and the bright stars that they are near.
-FER
----------------------------------------------------------------
NavList message boards and member settings: www.fer3.com/NavList
Members may optionally receive posts by email.
To cancel email delivery, send a message to NoMail[at]fer3.com
----------------------------------------------------------------