The class presentation

follows the book:

Dominique Prinet
dprinet@gmail.com
www.CelestialNavigationBook.com

Session 1 1
The class and home
exercises in this
presentation are taken
from the Exercise Manual.
This Manual includes
blank work-forms to
facilitate calculations, as
well as the required
Almanac and Sight
Reduction Tables

Session 1 2
 OUTLINE OF THE COURSE

Session 1

1. Outline of the course

2. Review of Coastal Navigation methods
3. Basic concepts of Celestial Navigation
4. The sextant and its corrections

Session 1 3
 OUTLINE OF THE COURSE

Session 2

5. Time; Chronometer and corrections

6. The use of time to measure longitude
7. Sun Coordinates in the Almanac;
Declination (“Dec”) & Greenwich Hour
Angle (“GHA”) for round hours, without
interpolation

Session 1 4
 OUTLINE OF THE COURSE

Session 3
8. (Sun Coordinates continued) Dec & GHA by
interpolation for min. & s. of time
9. Local Hour Angle (“LHA”)
10. Latitude by Noon Sight
11. Approximate Longitude at noon
12. Approximate Latitude by Polaris
13. Sight Reduction Tables: Spherical
Triangle; Marcq Saint-Hilaire Method
Session 1 5
 OUTLINE OF THE COURSE

Session 4

14. Sight Reduction Tables

 Selection of smart (“assumed”) Lat &
Long
 Bearing Zn of the Sun
 Calculated Altitude Hc
 Intercept

Session 1 6
 OUTLINE OF THE COURSE

Session 5

15. Work Forms

16. Plotting; Lines of Position (“LOP’s”)

Session 1 7
 OUTLINE OF THE COURSE

Session 6

17. Twilight
18. Sights with the Moon

Session 1 8
 OUTLINE OF THE COURSE

Session 7

19. Sights with the Planets

20. Sights with the Stars
Aries, SHA, Selected Stars
21. Precise Latitude from Polaris
22. Pre-selection of Planets and Stars

Session 1 9
 OUTLINE OF THE COURSE

Session 8

23. Review exercises in class

24. Home Exercises in preparation for
the test

Session 1 10
 OUTLINE OF THE COURSE

Session 9 (Outdoor)

Noon sights on the Sun, any time

after Session 1

Session 1 11
 OUTLINE OF THE COURSE

Session 10

Test

Session 1 12
 Session 1

• Review of Coastal Navigation methods

• Basic concepts of Celestial Navigation
• The sextant and its corrections

Session 1 13
 Session 1

• Review of basic calculations in systems with a

base 60 (times; angles)
• Review of basic concepts in Coastal Navigation
• The solar system
• Principles of Celestial Navigation
• Determination of the position of Celestial bodies:
the Nautical Almanac
• The sextant

Session 1 14
 Session 1

• Review of basic calculations in systems with a

base 60 (times and angles)

Session 1 15
Review: Working with angles and times

358° 54.6’
+ 3° 12.4’

124° 12.4’
- 48° 18.9’

01h 28 min 35s

- 11h 32 min 54s

Session 1 16
Review: Angles and times, answers
358° 54.6’
+ 3° 12.4’
362° 07.0’ 002º 07.0’

124° 12.4’ 123° 72.4’

- 48° 18.9’ - 48° 18.9’
75° 53.5’

01h 28 min 35s 24h 87 min 95s

- 11h 32 min 54s - 11h 32 min 54s
13h 55 min 41s

Session 1 17
 Session 1

• Review of basic calculations in systems with a

base 60 (times; angles)
• Review of basic concepts in Coastal Navigation

Session 1 18
Review: angles and bearings; Calendar highlights; LOPs

– Diameter of the Sun, Moon; semi diameter

– True vs Magnetic North; TVMDC; compass rose
– Direction of true bearings of 45°? 160°? 250°? 315°?
– Measures of distances on chart
– Units:
• Angles: degrees; minutes; 1/10ths (xxx° xx.x’)
• Times: h; min; s
– Equinox? Solstice?
• Sunrise time, Sept 22? Sunset time, March 22?
• Direction of Sun, 10 AM? Bearing at 3PM?
– Fix: 2 or 3 bearings (at 90°; at 120°)
– Advanced Line of Position
– Graphics
Session 1 19
Review: Parallels of Latitude, N & S of Equator (Lat. 0°)

Session 1 20
 1 nautical mile = 1’ of latitude

Session 1 21
 Review: Meridians of longitude east & west of the
meridian of Greenwich (Long. 0°)

Session 1 22
 Review: Latitudes & longitudes

Session 1 23
 Review: Lines of Position
Position from two or three LOPs

Fig. 1.1

Session 1 24
Review: Advanced Lines of Position
A Fix from a LOP and an Advanced Line of Position (ALOP)

Fig. 1.2

Session 1 25
 Session 1

• Review of basic calculations in systems with a

base 60 (times; angles)
• Review of basic concepts in Coastal Navigation
• The solar system

Session 1 26
 Ptolemaic System , 150 A.D.
(Geocentric)

Session 1 27
 Medieval Flat Earth & Celestial Sphere

Session 1 28
 Copernicus System (1550)
(Heliocentric)

Session 1 29
 Galileo Galilei
1564 - 1642

Session 1 30
 Session 1

• Review of basic calculations in systems with a

base 60 (times; angles)
• Review of basic concepts in Coastal Navigation
• The solar system
• Principles of Celestial Navigation

Session 1 31
 Principles of Celestial Navigation

• For each hour of the year, the Nautical

Almanac gives the longitude (“Greenwich
Hour Angle”) and latitude (“Declination”) of
the main celestial bodies on the celestial
sphere
• These coordinates on the celestial sphere
are essentially the same as the coordinates
of the points on Earth above which the
celestial objects are
Session 1 32
• These points on Earth are the “Geographic
Positions or “GP’s” of the celestial objects
• The celestial objects’ positions in the celestial
sphere, and the points on Earth above which
they are at the precise time of the sight (i.e.
their GP), are easily calculated by
interpolation knowing them for each hour of
the year from the Almanac

Session 1 33
• Given the coordinates of the GPs, i.e. the
location of the points on Earth above which
the celestial objects are, one can determine
a “Circle of Position” from which these
celestial objects can be seen at the angle
measured with the sextant

Session 1 34
The roundness of the Earth allows the drawing of circles of
position around the GP of celestial objects

Fig. 1.10

Session 1 35
A minute of angle off a celestial object corresponds
to one nautical mile

Fig. 1.9

Session 1 36
• The height “H” of the Celestial Body
(e.g. Sun) above the horizon will have to be
measured with a precision of 1’ or better

• Hence the use of the sextant, to determine

the circle of position around the GP of the
celestial body

Session 1 37
• The longitude of the Sun around the Earth
(“GHA”) is determined by the time of the
sight, knowing that it crossed the Greenwich
meridian at approximately 12:00 and appears
to be turning around the Earth at the rate of
15º per hour

• The latitude of the GP of the Sun (and other

celestial bodies), N or S of the equator, is
shown in the Almanac as the “Declination”

Session 1 38
• The Zenith Angle (90º - H) translates into the
radius of the circle of position around the GP

• From two or three sights, we can obtain two

or three “circles of position” around each GP,
hence our position

Session 1 39
 Position from three different Celestial Objects,
at the same time

Fig. 1.3

Session 1 40
 Position from two sights on the Sun, Boat fixed

Fig. 1.4

Session 1 41
Position from two sights on the Sun, Boat moving

Fig. 1.5

Session 1 42
 Session 1

• Review of basic calculations in systems with a

base 60 (times; angles)
• Review of basic concepts in Coastal Navigation
• The solar system
• Principles of Celestial Navigation
• Determination of the position of Celestial
Bodies; the Nautical Almanac

Session 1 43
 Declination ( = Latitude)
Greenwich Hour Angle ( ≈ Longitude)

Fig. 1.6

Requires measuring Angles (Dec) and Times (GHA)

Session 1 44
Nautical Almanac
July 3, 4, 5, 2003
(Sun & Moon)

Session 1 45
Nautical Almanac
(DETAIL)
July 3, 2003 (Sun)
16:00 UTC

Fig. 1.7

Session 1 46
EXAMPLE

Two sights on May 16th, 2009,

in the morning and afternoon

Session 1 47
First Sight (morning,
ROUND TIMES)

• At 9 AM PST (17:00 UTC) on

May 16th, the Sun’s GP is at:
• GHA (longitude): 75° 54.6’ W
and Dec (latitude): 19° 14.6’ N
• The Sun is over Guantanamo,
Cuba
• We plot the morning GP on the
world chart

Session 1 48
• Morning sextant measure of the Sun
altitude above the horizon: 49°
• Zenith Distance (= angle at the Center of
the Earth): 90° – 49° = 51°
• Radius of circle of position
= 51° x 60 NM/° = 3,060 NM

Session 1 49
 Morning sight

Session 1 50
Second Sight
(afternoon, ROUND TIMES)
• Second sight at 2 PM PST (22:00 UTC)
on May 16th, the Sun’s GP is at:
• Sun longitude (GHA): 150° 54.6’ W
(10 h at 15 °/h)
• Sun latitude (Dec): 19° 17.5’ N
• The Sun is over a point just east of the
main island of Hawaii
• We plot the afternoon GP on the world
chart
Session 1 51
• Afternoon sextant measure of the Sun
altitude above the horizon: 55°
• Zenith distance : 90° – 55° = 35°
• Radius of Circle of Position = 35° x 60
NM/° = 2,100 NM

Session 1 52
 Afternoon Sight

Session 1 53
 Zooming

Session 1 54
The Marcq Saint-Hilaire method for zooming
(1875)

• Adolph Laurent Anatole Marcq de Blond

de Saint-Hilaire
• Allows much improved precision
• Compares actual and pre-calculated
altitudes

Session 1 55
Session 1 56
Marcq Saint-
Hilaire method

If Ho < Hc (from
Sight Reduction
Tables), our Actual
Position is further
away from the Sun
than we had
assumed

Session 1 57
 Session 1
• Review of basic calculations in systems with a base 60
(times; angles)
• Review of basic concepts in Coastal Navigation
• The solar system
• Principles of Celestial Navigation
• Determination of the Position of the Celestial Bodies; the
Nautical Almanac
• Measuring the Angle (“Height”) of the Celestial
Body over the Horizon:
– the Sextant
• History

Session 1 58
• Before time could be measured (end of
18th century), navigation was done by
following a latitude
• Latitude was determined by a noon sight,
and by evening and at dawn sights on
Polaris

Session 1 59
 The Cross-Staff
to measure the angle between the Sun and
the horizon (circa 1400)

Session 1 60
 The Back-Staff

Session 1 61
 The Mariner’s Astrolabe

Session 1 62
 The Octant
1/8 of a circle, or 45°; measures angles up to 90°

Session 1 63
 The Sextant
(John Hadley & Thomas Godfrey, circa 1750)

Session 1 64
 Session 1
• Review of basic calculations in systems with a base 60
(times; angles)
• Review of basic concepts in Coastal Navigation
• The solar system
• Principles of Celestial Navigation
• Determination of the position of the Celestial Bodies; the
Nautical Almanac
• The Sextant
– History
– Principle

Session 1 65
 The Sextant
1/6 of a circle, or 60°; measures angles up to 120°

Session 1 66
 Index and Horizon mirrors

Fig. 2.1

Session 1 67
 Measure of Degrees, Minutes of Angle,
and 10ths of minutes

Fig. 2.2

Session 1 68
 Session 1
• Review of basic calculations in systems with a base 60
(times; angles)
• Review of basic concepts in Coastal Navigation
• The solar system
• Principles of Celestial Navigation
• Determination of the position of the Celestial Bodies; the
Nautical Almanac
• The Sextant
– History
– Principle
– Errors, and their corrections

Session 1 69
 Measure of the Index Error
from a sight on the horizon

Fig. 2.5

Session 1 70
 Exercise 1 (Index Error)

Session 1 71
 Exercise 1
Answer

Session 1 72
 Error caused by the
height of the eye above the horizon (“DIP”)

Fig. 2.6

Session 1 73
Eliminating the Dip error would require a sight from
the surface

Fig. 2.7

Session 1 74
Dip caused by a traditional sight above the water

Fig. 2.8

Session 1 75
DIP
The DIP error depends
on the height of the eye

Appendix A2-1

Session 1 76
 DIP

Fig. 2.9

Session 1 77
 Exercise 2 (Dip)

Session 1 78
 Exercise 2
Answer

Session 1 79
 Correction for a sight on the Lower Limb (“LL”)

Fig. 2.10

Session 1 80
 The air mass causes a Refraction Error

Fig. 2.11

Session 1 81
 The error caused by refraction is larger
when the Sun is closer to the horizon

Fig. 2.12

Session 1 82
 The Parallax Error is caused by
an observer’s location away from the GP

Fig. 2.13

Session 1 83
The further away from the GP (celestial body lower
on the horizon), the larger the Parallax Error.

Fig. 2.14

Session 1 84
Main Correction
½ Diameter +
Refraction + Parallax

Appendix A2-1

Session 1 85
Main Correction

Fig. 2.15

Session 1 86
 Exercise 3
Main Correction: UL or LL + Refraction + Parallax

Session 1 87
 Exercise 3
Answer

Session 1 88
End of Session 1