NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Beginner Meridian Passage Question
From: Bill Noyce
Date: 2004 Sep 3, 09:13 -0400
From: Bill Noyce
Date: 2004 Sep 3, 09:13 -0400
> > b) when you think Polaris is directly below or above the pole, add
or
> > subtract its difference (which you have memorized as about 45');
>
> It looks to me that the average declination for Polaris in 2004 was
close to 89 d 17'. 90 - > 89 d 17' = 43'. Am I missing some 2nd and
3rd order variables when calculating the distance > of Polaris from PN?
Id so, what?
For lifeboat navigation, I was assuming (1) a couple of minutes / miles
doesn't matter;
(2) a round number was easier to remember; and (3) I had the impression
Polaris had
already passed as close to the pole as it was going to, and was now
slowly moving away.
I now believe #3 is wrong -- it looks to me as if that happens around
2008, though the
motion is less than 0.1' every few years.
So if you can remember 44' or 43', use that.
-- Bill
