NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Swinging the Arc
From: Bill B
Date: 2004 Dec 5, 18:49 -0500
From: Bill B
Date: 2004 Dec 5, 18:49 -0500
>> Bruce S wrote: >> "I don't think about "axis" or "rocking." All I do is move the sun back and >> forth on the horizon to find the best fit. " > Frank Responded: > I didn't think of "axis" either until I started reading some accounts of > this process in standard navigation textbooks. I've also watched navigation > students and seen them do it, as I have called it, the "wrong" way. A while back there was a discussion as to why the sextant was designed the way it was. It seems many have the handle at a 45d angle to the vertical and horizontal axis. It also seems the most desirable bodies for shooting are between 30d and 60d above the Earth's horizon. Average, 45d. Is it possible the handle is placed at 45d to facilitate swinging the arc near the 45d average line-of-sight to the body? Bill
