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In six days there will be a partial solar eclipse (technically at the center line it's annular, but an annular eclipse is still just a partial solar eclipse). This is a rare opportunity to navigate with the New Moon. If the weather cooperates, and you're in the right part of the world to see this, try a standard Moon-Sun fix. Grab your sextant, and after the Sun rises catch a Moon LL sight before the Moon has moved too far off the Sun's face. From my location there's a brief window of opportunity for this. Then wait a while for the Sun to shift 30 or 40° in azimuth and take a Sun sight. Combine the two for a Sun-New Moon running fix. Absolutely pointless! But it's a story to tell...

Or you could try for an "inside the Sun" lunar distance. That's quite a different puzzle. 

I'm including an illustration that I made for the eclipse that is strictly local to my island. If you're anywhere in the northeast US, the most important thing to keep in mind is that the Sun rise well to the north of east this time of year, around azimuth 58°. Plan for that! If you want to take a fantastic photo, set yourself up with some foreground structure --maybe a photogenic lighthouse?-- on that azimuth and place your camera at a distance such that the structure is about half a degree tall. Take its height in feet or meters and multiply by 108 to get the proper distance.

Frank Reed
Clockwork Mapping / ReedNavigation.com
Conanicut Island USA

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