NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2020 Apr 20, 10:15 -0700
Tony Oz, you wrote:
"While taking a Moon sight at night there is the high probability on an error"
High probability? That's going too far, I think. There are "stories" of error. This is anecdotal. We find it in "recommendations" but where's the data?? Navigators are always looking for excuses to skip the Moon since they don't really know how to do it, and in fact, the usual methodology in the standard tables is too complicated. I'm adding a short (3-hour) session on Moon sights to my available workshops starting in June. But the nuisance of Moon sights is over-done. The Moon is your friend!
Certainly, though, I agree with you that the circumstances which apply to the Moon affecting the visibility of the horizon below it (with some probability, if not necessarily "high probability"!) will also apply to the Sun. :)
Frank Reed
PS: What's wrong with the Moon in the opening credits of this old TV show? (it's from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and, for Hewitt, the creator, Joss Whedon, is also a Wesleyan grad).
