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A diagram of a typical nautical sextant, a tool used in celestial navigation to measure the angle between two objects viewed by means of its optical sight. Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is the practice of position fixing using stars and other celestial bodies that enables a navigator to accurately determine their actual current physical position in space or on the ...
Nocturnal used to determine apparent local time by viewing the Polaris and its surrounding stars. Ring dial or astronomical ring used to measure the height of a celestial body above the horizon. It could be used to find the altitude of the Sun or determine local time. It let sunlight shine through a small orifice on the rim of the instrument.
Nocturnal: instrument to determine local time using relative positions of two or more stars in the night sky; Octant: measuring instrument used primarily in navigation; type of reflecting instrument; Optical spectrometer, also known as Spectrograph: instrument to measure the properties of visible light; Orrery: mechanical model of the Solar System
Every helpful hint and clue for Sunday's Strands game from the New York Times. Today’s NYT ‘Strands’ Hints, Spangram and Answers for Sunday, December 8 Skip to main content
The frame of a sextant is in the shape of a sector which is approximately 1 ⁄ 6 of a circle (60°), [3] hence its name (sextāns, sextantis is the Latin word for "one sixth"). "). Both smaller and larger instruments are (or were) in use: the octant, quintant (or pentant) and the (doubly reflecting) quadrant [4] span sectors of approximately 1 ⁄ 8 of a circle (45°), 1 ⁄ 5 of a circle (72 ...
At the ceremony, secretary Lawrence M. Small said, "The rebirth of non-instrument navigation came about largely due to this man, Mau Piailug". [ 49 ] The Bishop Museum presented Mau with the Robert J. Pfeiffer Medal on 12 July 2008, honouring him for "exceptional dedication to the advancement of maritime affairs and the perpetuation of maritime ...
The north star is sighted through the center of the device, and the pointer arm is rotated to point at the chosen reference star. The intersection of the pointer arm with the hour markings on the inner disc indicates the time. The instrument must be held upright, and should have a handle or similar hint as to which direction is down.
By observing the motion of an artificial star, located east or west of the center of the main instrument, and seen through this axis telescope and a small collimating telescope, as the main telescope was rotated, the shape of the pivots, and any wobble of the axis, could be determined. [9] Top view of a circle-reading microscope; from Norton ...