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Artificial horizon: firm base needed.[was Your Mail]
From: George Huxtable
Date: 2004 Sep 30, 12:46 +0100
From: George Huxtable
Date: 2004 Sep 30, 12:46 +0100
Alex Eremenko wrote, under threadname "Your mail"- >The only obstacle to improving my results for the Sun >seems to be the water motion in the art horizon because >of the slightest vibration. My balcony floor vibrates when >a dog is passing by on the ground under my balcony:-) >But this can be fixed of course. To prevent such vibrations it is necessary for the artificial horizon (water or mercury) to have its base firmly planted on solid ground. A viscous material mould cope better, presumably. Somewhere I have read of attempts in the 1700s to use an artificial horizon on the roof of the Admiralty building in London, a very solid stone construction. These were seriously disturbed by the passage of horse-drawn carriages outside. In another message (star-to-star distances) Alex wrote- The Russian manual says about "a plate with machine oil which an assistant holds in his hands". The assistant is probably needed to absorb the vibration of the ship's engine! Tell us more, please, Alex. I find it hard to believe that any assistant could have steady enough hands to hold a liquid horizon (even of machine oil) still enough. As for the "ship's engine", I havent come across an account of any successful measurement made with an artificial horizon on board a ship at sea. If that was a standard Russian procedure, it would be interesting to learn about it. George. ================================================================ contact George Huxtable by email at george@huxtable.u-net.com, by phone at 01865 820222 (from outside UK, +44 1865 820222), or by mail at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK. ================================================================