NavList:

Jared wrote:

"It seemed interesting, that with just a watch and calendar
one should be able to get latitude this way. Since most modern watches run
to better than a second a day, this would seem to be a reasonable navigation
tool."

 

You can get longitude, too. If your watch is running well, as you travel east, sunrises and sunsets will occur at earlier and earlier watch times.

This technique of navigation is actively employed on a small device that operates in an area inaccessible to GPS signals --underwater. Do you have $4200 to spare? Then you, too, can be the proud honor of a celestial navigating fish tag. I brought this up briefly on the list over a year ago. Here's a link to their web site and a description of the device: http://microwavetelemetry.com/Fish_PTTs/archival.php

 

They get one-degree-ish estimated accuracy in latitude and longitude by timing sunrise and sunset (based on light levels corrected for depth, which is measured by pressure). This may be one of the last scientifically significant uses of celestial navigation. I guess it was easier than teaching the tuna to use sextants and H.O.229.

 

"Has anyone seen a formula for this, or does anyone want to give it a try?"

 

The easiest way to do it would be trial and error with the standard formulas for sunrise/sunset. Or with an almanac, just interpolate.