NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Polaris isn't so easy!
From: Jim Thompson
Date: 2004 Apr 5, 08:05 -0300
From: Jim Thompson
Date: 2004 Apr 5, 08:05 -0300
Polaris is my last assignment for the compulsory sight folder in my Power Squadron course. Now that the weather is starting to improve a bit (still doggone chilly at twilight, with ice on the horizon), I am trying to get Polaris done with my AstraIIIb sextant. Given that Polaris was a mainstay of navigation for centuries, I assumed that it was easy to shoot. But I am finding it difficult, mainly because Polaris is faint enough that by the time it comes out the horizon is getting pretty dark. The evening horizon is hazy this time of year too (warm days, cool sea and evening air), so near nautical twilight the horizon is that much harder to find, even with my 2.5x telescope. Natural horizon: What are the tricks that ocean-going navigators used for shooting Polaris? For the backyard: Does Polaris show up in an artifical horizon (pan of oil)? Jim Thompson jim2@jimthompson.net www.jimthompson.net Outgoing mail scanned by Norton Antivirus -----------------------------------------
