NavList:

Gary LaPook, you wrote:
"Frank, you have too much time on your hands."

No. I really do not. 

But I am doing what I can to keep NavList alive. It may not work, but I'm trying to create posts for wide-ranging interests and attitudes. But ya know... maybe the problem here is that you just can't figure out the puzzle that I posted. Oooh! That might just be the problem! So here it again, for your contemplation:

Where were you on Christmas at 0400 UT??

I saw an advert for this astro-bracelet gift today, screen capture below. It's designed to celebrate an event at a particular date and time at some location on the globe. These determine the appearance of the sky and the positions of the constellations! It's not exactly a unique relationship, but let's not worry about that. :) If, in fact, I ordered one of these to mark an event at 0400 UT on 25 December 2026, then the appearance of the sky as displayed here determines your position. It's a wrist-sized celestial navigation problem! What is your latitude and longitude?!

The constellation lines as displayed are fairly standard and look reasonable. You may assume that the visible limit of the sky framed by the dial of the bracelet, as shown, is at or very near the observer's horizon. The coordinate lines have an interesting quirk — the declination circles, as drawn, are located at approximately 85°, 55°, 25°, -5°, -35°. That's every 30° but starting with a 5° offset at the north celestial pole.

I don't think it's possible to estimate this to better than +/-3° so don't get lost in precision...

Frank Reed

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