I have finally put together an artificial horizon using a front-surface mirror. My hope is to be able to do star and planets sights with it, which I cannot do with my Davis artificial horizon. I found an inexpensive optical quality mirror on-line. I drilled and tapped four holes in a cheap polypro cutting board for inch-and-a-quarter-long 3/8th-inch machine-thread bolts to serve as levelers and
then attached the mirror using standard bathroom mirror brackets. The trick will be getting the thing adequately level. William Morris kindly supplied me with a very sensitive level vial. It is not mounted to the device. I set it diagonally across the mirror and level it, move it to the other diagonal and repeat, switch it end to end and repeat both those steps and then repeat as necessary. A picture of this simple apparatus is attached. Any suggestions about how to improve it (without vastly increasing its cost) would be welcome.
I haven't yet taken any sights using it. It takes twenty minutes to level the thing, sitting at my dining room table. That is, provided no one is moving about on the ground floor of my house while I am doing it. The level is very sensitive. It will not be easy getting it set up outside.
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Dr. Patrick Goold
Department of Philosophy
Virginia Wesleyan College
Norfolk, VA 23502
757 455 3357
Charles Olson: "Love the World -- and stay inside it."
