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    Re: Lunars
    From: Dan Allen
    Date: 1999 Feb 16, 12:49 EST

    Here is a rough set of steps:
    Measurements:
    Measure height of moon h1, height of sun h2 lower limbs. (t-n min)
    Measure distance d1 between nearest limbs. (t)
    Measure height of moon h3, height of sun h4 lower limbs. (t+n min)
    Calculate:
    Ham = (h1+h3)/2 - dip + SDm = apparent height of moon
    Has = (h2+h4)/2 - disp + SDs = apparent height of sun
    Da = d + SDm + SDs = apparent distance
    cos(Da)=sin(Ham)*sin(Has) + cos(Ham)*cos(Has)*cos(Z)  solve for Z
    Hm = Ham - refraction + parallax
    Hs = Has - refraction + parallax
    cos(d)=sin(Hm)*sin(Hs) +cos(Hm)*cos(Hs)*cos(Z)  solve for d
    Lookup:
    Determine declinations of moon, sun from a nautical almanac.
    Best guess for latitude.
    Calculate LHA of moon, sun:
     cos2(LHA/2) = cos1/2(dec+lat+Z)*cos1/2(dec+lat+Z) / cos(dec)*cos(lat)
    Bowditch has details on this in all editions up through the year 1912 or so.
    I got these details from an out of print book called "Navigation Afloat: A
    Manual for the Seaman" by Alton B. Moody, 1980.  The book only devotes one
    page to the topic, and it is distilled above.
    There is a book available from http://www.celestaire.com by Stark, Bruce
    entitled "Tables for Clearing the Lunar Distance and Finding G.M.T. by
    Sextant Observation", Lant-horn Press	Eugene, OR, 1995,1997 that has more
    details.
    This should be part of a Navigation FAQ.  Do we have one?
    Dan
    -----Original Message-----
    From: JMason@XXX.XXX]
    Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 1999 8:24 AM
    To: navigation@XXX.XXX
    Cc: JMason@XXX.XXX
    Subject: [Nml] Lunars
    Has anyone ever seen a reference to an actual procedure (book, calculator,
    or
    computer program) for the celestial navigation solution for longitude called
    "luners"?
    My understanding is one starts with the time at which one or more of the
    navigation stars is occulted by the moon, and traditionally performs a
    massive
    (hours to solve without calculators) spherical trigonometry solution which
    yields position.  But how does one do it?  Even Bowditch is silent.
    There is another solution using the moons of Jupiter, but I don't think this
    is the "luners" used by master mariners in the last century.
    John Mason
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