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I believe Turner gives the reason for the longer formula and also shows
the shorter one, saying the shorter one can be inaccurate in some
cases.  This is just an old memory, however.  Hopefully, one of the
real wizards will jump in here.

Fred

On Jan 7, 2005, at 10:24 AM, Fried Squash wrote:

> In _Celestial for the Cruising Navigator_ by Merle
> Turner, the navigational triangle azimuth formula is
> given as:
>
> cos Z = (sin d - (sin L * sin H ))/(cos L * cos H)
>
> but Dutton's Navigation and Piloting gives the much
> simpler:
>
> sin Z = ( cos d * sin t ) / cos H
>
> They both seem to work.  But there must be some reason
>  that the longer one is better, right? Works in more
> cases?  My goal is simplicity, using a basic
> scientific calculator.
>
> Thank you in advance for any help, Great Wizards.  The
> space navigation stuff is fascinating, albeit "over my
> head"!
>
>
>
>
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