NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Latitudes by lunar distance. was: Lunars with and without altitudes
From: George Huxtable
Date: 2006 Nov 28, 12:01 -0000
From: George Huxtable
Date: 2006 Nov 28, 12:01 -0000
Thanks to D Waldenfor his response to my questions about his computer program, [NavList 1753] Re: Latitudes by lunar distance. was: Lunars with and without altitudes He has correctly understood each of my questions, and given a full response which has cleared it all up. End of dialogue. A simple and civilised exchange, between us. ======================= I had written, in [Navlist 1751] "But there are other details, that need to be thought about, when such great precision is being sought." And Frank Reed, in [[NavList 1760], has seen fit to make this somewhat peevish intervention- "George, you then went on to discuss various small points about the augmentation of the Moon, refraction formulas, and more. But none of this has anything to do specifically with this business of getting a position fix by lunar distances. Instead it's just basic material about clearing lunars that should be well-known to anyone messing around with lunars. Surely, when you were asking for further explanation on this topic, you were not asking how to calculate the Moon's augmentation, were you??" I really can't fathom what all that was about, except that somehow Frank has got upset by it. The "other details", that I asked about, were VERY relevant to the business of seeking ultimate precision in the clearing of lunar distance. And because of the unfamiliarity (to me, and perhaps to others) of the notation that the program used, those details were not explicit to the reader. D Walden has kindly explained, and his explanation indeed shows that in two aspects (refraction and augmentation of semidiameter), some further development of the program could do a bit of good in achieving ultimate precision, if a wide range of possible sky-positions is to be catered for. And in response to Frank's question; no, I wasn't asking how to calculate the Moon's augmentation, as he would see if he read it again. I was suggesting that it should be taken into account, in the program. Any objection to that? George. contact George Huxtable at george@huxtable.u-net.com or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222) or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---