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Such a tattoo would be pretty useless without a sextant, a good watch, and a nautical almanac. And since any almanac would likely have the star charts too, you
by gmiller123456 7y ago
Such a tattoo would be pretty useless without a sextant, a good watch, and a nautical almanac. And since any almanac would likely have the star charts too, you can save your skin for something else.
You can't use static charts because the Earth wobbles a bit (called precession and nutation), and doesn't rotate at a constant speed. This effect can make a difference of being off my many miles just over a year, and 10's of miles over a few years.
- UI_at_80x24 7y agoThis is good to hear so thank-you for writing that. I have a plan to do a bicycle tour from Canada to Mexico sometime in my retirement years (or sooner). Part of that included a 'Wouldn't it be quaint/interesting' desire to bring along an old sextant I inherited and see how close I could chart my progress to my actual location. If the charts change that much over time, then this might work the way I was expecting.
- gmiller123456 7y agoSextants aren't really made for use on land, you need a very flat horizon to use one, you can use an "artificial horizon" but you'll loose some accuracy. A sextant is made for observations at sea, where a ship would be bobbing up and down. On steady land, it's much easier to just measure the angle a star makes with a level base. I'm not sure of the exact name, I've seen old telescopes with a protractor on the side, and a level and compass on the base. But, so long as it's just for fun, you can rely on your phone for updated star information and time.
- jdc 7y agoA combination compass - inclinometer would probably be good for his purposes.