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Paul Hirose writes:
[...]
 > It was a little surprising to see Carl Herzog's statement that the
 > choice of whether to use the horizon glass or index mirror for the
 > Moon is mainly a question of physical convenience for the navigator.
 > I'd expect the index shades to be much darker, since they have to
 > make the direct rays of the Sun safe to view. (Remember, I own a
 > bubble sextant but no marine sextant.)
[...]

Both my Plath and Astra have filters ranging from dark enough to shoot
the Sun to just enough to dim a partial Moon.  Since a common
technique for starting a run of sights involves looking at the body
with the index set to 0-0.0 and "dropping" the image, both the index
and horizon filters should allow seeing anything from the Sun at high
noon to a dimmer star like Polaris.

Remember, too, that filters can be used in combination, offering an
even wider range of intermediate shading.  The Astra also has a green
filter which can be used to make the Sun or Moon stand out a bit from
what's seen on the horizon.  There are times when I wish I had the
same option with the Plath.

Rick
S/V One With The Wind, Baba 35

   

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