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> From: "P F" 

> Over a few minutes spanning LAN there is very little change in the
> body's altitude - they used to say the sun tends to "hang in the sky"
> at this time.
>
> So differences in recorded altitude over those few minutes are mostly
> caused by random errors in observation. By comparing a graph of them
> with your horizontal line it may be possible to derive a better
> altitude to adopt for calculation of your latitude than any of the
> recorded sights (see: "An example of a slope", 10 March 07) .

Excellent point from a practical standpoint IMHO.  You may recall a long
series pd posts on averaging years ago where the academic viewpoint claimed
that averaging should be avoided near LAN.

In extreme cases I agree. For all practical purposes given the accuracy
claims for GHA and declination in the N.A., and sextant accuracy, what's the
big deal?

Bill


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