Ernest Gallaudet Draper

“ Apparent or Solar Time is, as stated before, nothing more than sun time or time by the sun. The hour angle of the center of the sun is the measure of apparent or solar time. An apparent or solar day is the interval of time it takes for the earth to revolve completely around on its axis every 24 hours. It is apparent noon at the place where you are when the center of the sun is directly on your meridian, i.e., on the meridian of longitude which runs through the North and South poles and also intersects your zenith. ”

“ The reason for this is that in both cases, either your Variation or Deviation may change and throw you off.
Practically all navigation in strange waters in sight of land and in all waters out of sight of land depends upon the determination of angles. The angle at which a lighthouse is seen from your ship will give you much information that may be absolutely necessary for your safety. The angular altitude of the sun, star or planet does the same. The very heart of Navigation is based upon dealing with angles of all kinds. ”

“ It is practically impossible to fix your position exactly by one observation of any celestial body. The most you can expect from one sight is to fix your line of position, i.e., the line somewhere along which you are. If, for instance, you can get a sight by sextant of the sun, you may be able to work out from this sight a very accurate calculation of what your latitude is. Say it is 50° N. You are practically certain, then, that you are somewhere in latitude 50° N, but just where you are you cannot tell until you get another sight for your longitude. ”

“ As you have already learned, Declination is equivalent to latitude on the earth and Right Ascension practically equivalent to longitude on the earth, except that whereas longitude on the earth is measured E. and W. from Greenwich, Right Ascension is measured to the east all the way around the sky, from the First Point of Aries. With this in mind, you can easily see that if a star's R.A. is less than yours, i.e., less than L.S.T. or the R.A. of your Meridian, the star is not as far eastward in the heavens, as is your zenith. ”

“ Apparent noon is the time when the latitude of your position can be most easily and most exactly determined and on the latitude by observation just secured we can get data which will be of great value to us for longitude sights taken later in the day.
Now it would be very easy for the mariner if he could measure apparent time directly so that his clock or other instrument would always tell him just what the sun time was. It is impossible, however, to do this because the earth does not revolve at a uniform rate of speed. ”

“ The general position of the equator in the sky is always readily found according to the latitude you are in. If you are in 40° N. latitude, the celestial equator would intersect the celestial sphere at a point 40° South of you. Knowing this, the angular distance of a star North or South of the equator (which is its declination) should be easily found. Remember, however, that the equator in the sky is a curved line and hence a star in the East or West which looks to be slightly North of you may actually be South of you. ”

“ Now if the axis of the earth were always perpendicular to the plane of the sun's orbit, then the sun would always be immediately over the equator and the sun's declination would always be 0°. But you know that the axis of the earth is inclined to the plane of the sun's orbit. As the earth, then, revolves around the sun, the amount of the declination increases and then decreases according to the location of the earth at any one time with relation to the sun. ”

“ In winter the only rule to follow is to observe the sun as soon as it is 10° or more above the horizon. In summer find out from the Azimuth Tables the local apparent time when the sun will bear 90°. Estimate, as closely as possible, the longitude you will be in the next morning when the local apparent time is as just found in the Azimuth Tables. This can be done by calculating the dead reckoning from the previous sight, or, what is even simpler, laying the distance off on the plotting chart. ”

“ The beauty of using stars is that by almost simultaneous altitudes of different ones you can ascertain your position, both as to latitude and longitude. In the North Atlantic during the summer months Vega, Deneb or Altair in the East, Antares or Deneb Kaitos in the South, Arcturus in the West, and Polaris, Mizar, or Kochab in the North form an ideal combination which includes every quadrant of the compass. In the winter months, Capella, Castor or Pollux in the East, Sirius or any star in Orion's belt in the South, Deneb in the West, and Polaris in the North are equally as good. ”

“ Some of the more brilliant stars are far more distant than some of the fainter ones. There are stars near and remote and an apparently faint star [Pg 75] may in reality be larger and more brilliant than a star of the first magnitude. Vega, for instance, is infinitely farther away from us than the sun, yet its brightness is more than 50 times that of the sun. Polaris, still farther away, has 100 times the light and heat of the sun. In fact the sun, considered as a star, is relatively small and feeble. ”

“ To know your latitude exactly at noon is usually required when you are steaming in convoy, for at that time your position signals are hoisted, and it is a matter of pride with the navigator not only to have his position exact but promptly. ”

“ A minute of latitude is always a mile, because parallels of latitude are equidistant at all places. A minute of longitude is a mile only on the equator, for the meridians are coming closer to each other as they converge toward either pole. ”

“ Hence, it will be impossible for you to correctly plot your course and distance sailed unless you have a chart which shows on it the degrees of latitude in which you are. For instance, if your Mercator chart shows parallels of latitude from 30° to 40° that chart must be used when you are in one of those latitudes. When you move into 41° or 29°, you must be sure to change your plotting chart accordingly. In very high latitudes and near the North pole, the Mercator chart is worthless. How can you steer for the North pole when the meridians of your chart never come together at any pole? ”

“ It is always advisable to take a number of sights, closely following each other, so that an error in one may be corrected somewhat by the others. [Pg 100] Take at least three sights in close succession. At the same time have the log read and enter it in your notebook. An equally good method in fair weather is to secure the distance run from the revolutions of the propeller.
Having taken your sights, go to the standard compass and get a bearing of the sun, at the same time noting in your book the W.T. of the bearing and the compass heading of the ship. ”

“ The height of all lighthouses on the Atlantic Coast can be found in a book published by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Correct the bearing, as mentioned in case No. 1. Now read the angle of the height of that light by using your sextant. Do this by putting the vernier 0 on the arc 0, sliding the limb slowly forward until the top of the lighthouse in the reflected horizon just touches the bottom of the lighthouse in the true horizon. With this angle and the known height of the light, enter Table 33 in Bowditch. At the left of the Table will be found the distance off in knots. ”

“ Now each star in the heavens is in reality a sun, i.e., a vast globe of gas and vapor, intensely hot and in a continuous state of violent agitation, radiating forth heat and light, every pulsation of which is felt throughout the universe. So closely indeed do many of the stars resemble the sun, that the light which they emit cannot be distinguished from sunlight. ”

“ It is not difficult to learn to know 30 or 40 of the brighter stars, so that they can be recognized at any time. To aid in locating the stars, many different star charts and atlases have been published, but most of them are so elaborate that they confuse as much as they help. The simpler the chart, the fewer stars it pretends to locate, the better for practical purposes. ”