Next message: Frank Reed: "Lunars & Don Jose de Mendoza y Rios"
wrote:
"How many of you critics have actually tried to obtain Longitude by equal
altitudes. As is the case with almost all methods of navigation there are
limitations to its use, however, at the right time and place it can be useful"
I agree completely. With a plastic sextant, a cheap clock, and only an
analemma (or equivalent) for tables you can celestially navigate your way around the
world. And the little issues which affect the accuracy of this method can be
dealt with easily if one so desires. Those little issues are not sufficient
reasons to pass over an important method of navigation.
By the way, for newcomers to celestial navigation, another textbook worth
buying is "Learn to Navigate by the Tutorial System Developed at Harvard" --an
ungainly title for an excellent textbook. It includes a brief chapter (it would
have to be brief, it's so simple), complete with analemma, on this simple
method of finding longitude and latitude using Noon Sun sight series.
Frank R
[ ] Mystic, Connecticut
[X] Chicago, Illinois
