NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Celestial Navigation on TV
From: Brad Morris
Date: 2009 Oct 28, 09:12 -0400
From: Brad Morris
Date: 2009 Oct 28, 09:12 -0400
Hi Frank Question 1: Clearly, our contestant did not have a grasp of celestial navigation, and just picked one of the three angles. One out of Three chance and the buzzer! Question 2: The start chart shown is only for one hemisphere, due to the path of the sun on the left. Of course, the chart is a blur but based upon the cluster of stars at the center, it could very well be the northern hemisphere. It would be easier to determine which hemisphere, if the chart had restricted itself to those of the 57 navigational stars that resided in that hemisphere. However, with the declination of Polaris at N89, of Vega at N39 and of Canopus at S53; it is clear that he has more stars than the hemisphere can contain! No clue as to what show or year, but it must be prior to 1973. Best Regards Brad -----Original Message----- From: navlist@fer3.com [mailto:navlist@fer3.com] On Behalf Of frankreed@HistoricalAtlas.com Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 9:32 PM To: NavList@fer3.com Subject: [NavList 10288] Celestial Navigation on TV I was watching an episode of an old television show earlier today, and it included a visual "quiz" on navigation. Here are two quiz questions and the answers from the "contestant": 1) Question (as loud music plays and a star chart is diplayed on the screen): "We'll start with celestial navigation. The celestial triangle is formed on the celestial sphere by the great circles connecting the elevated pole, the zenith of the assumed position of the observer, and the celestial body. Mark your assumed position in the triangle by pressing the correct key." He answers: "I can't even hear myself think!" and presses the wrong key. 2) Question (after a star chart flashes on screen for a fraction of a second): "Name ten of the navigation stars you just saw on the screen. You have ten seconds." He answers: "Canopus... Polaris... Vegas [sic]... It's too fast! I can't remember." I think it's just possible that this was the first and only time that the navigational triangle was correctly defined in American television history. It was a "fake" quiz and this question was probably read from a textbook just to sound like complex science jargon, so it doesn't really count. But it was still remarkable to hear those words in such an incongruous setting. I am attaching a screen capture of the star chart as displayed for the second question. How would you rate our contestant's answer? -FER PS: Nice frame around the video screen in that screen capture, isn't it? It looks like the "brushed metal" interface that was popular in Apple's Mac OSX five to ten years ago. In fact, the screen capture is from quite a bit earlier. You get ten NavList points if you can name the television program and the year. "Confidentiality and Privilege Notice The information transmitted by this electronic mail (and any attachments) is being sent by or on behalf of Tactronics; it is intended for the exclusive use of the addressee named above and may constitute information that is privileged or confidential or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the addressee or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to same, you are not authorized to retain, read, copy or disseminate this electronic mail (or any attachments) or any part thereof. If you have received this electronic mail (and any attachments) in error, please call us immediately and send written confirmation that same has been deleted from your system. Thank you." --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ NavList message boards: www.fer3.com/arc Or post by email to: NavList@fer3.com To , email NavList+@fer3.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---