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I am not a real navigator, celestial or otherwise, however in general
engineering situations I don't take comfort from a consistent-looking set of
plotted points, but certainly look for inconsistent ones to warn of
problems.

Having gone to the trouble of plotting points, another check is available:
The relationship of altitude versus time of an astronomical body (the slope
of the line and its curvature) is a function of the latitude of the observer
and of the body's position in the *horizon coordinate system*, independent
of which body is being observed (not strictly true for solar/lunar sights,
since the function applies to the center of the body rather than the limb,
and not strictly true for bodies not fixed on the celestial sphere, but
possibly a useful approximation).  A set of observations which plot with a
'nice' slope and curvature should not inspire confidence except to the
extent that it matches this theoretical slope and curvature.

Regards,
Jim
-------------------------
Jim.Theriot@posc.org
POSC -- Energy eStandards
24 Greenway Plaza
Suite 1000-B
Houston TX 77046 USA
+1.713.267.5109
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