NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Low Altitude Venus
From: Greg Rudzinski
Date: 2014 Dec 29, 08:57 -0800
From: Greg Rudzinski
Date: 2014 Dec 29, 08:57 -0800
Venus is looking very nice low (10°) in the western sky just after sunset now. This is an ideal time to practice up on low altitude early twilight observations if a west facing natural horizon is available. One of the benefits of a low altitude observation is that perpendicularity of the sextant with the horizon is much easier to achieve. Failure to obtain perpendicularity with the sextant is possibly the largest source of error for the beginning celestial navigator especially when underway in a small craft. Be sure to have the horizon split through the middle of Venus since this planet is such a large point of light.
Greg Rudzinski
