Greetings!

ReedNavigation.com "Modern Celestial Navigation" Practice Problems

If you complete these practice problems and return them to me showing
your work, and if I think you've managed more than 75% accuracy, you
will receive an OFFICIAL course completion certificate, personalized and
signed

(delivered

as

pdf,

which

you

may

print).

How's that for motivation? :) Substantial parts of each problem are worked
out for you and included as "hints".
The "practice problems" are divided into four sections A,B,C,D.
A) General:
1) Approximately, what is the value of the "dip of the horizon" for a
navigator who is 5 ft 10 in. tall on a deck which is 7 feet off the water?
2) What is the angular SEMI-diameter of the Sun (how many minutes of
arc)? Approximately what fraction of a degree is that [Hint: it's about a
quarter

of

degree]?

3) How many degrees high is the zenith? What is the normal maximum
readable

angle

on

sextant?

4) what are the four correcions we make to the altitude of the Sun? If you
observe the Sun (Lower Limb) 45 deg high, and your height of eye
is 25 feet, what are the approximate values of those corrections in minutes
of

arc?

You

can

estimate

all

but

one

of

them

from the information given.

B) Latitude at Noon:
1) It is April 10, 2015, and you are sailing off New England aboard your
yacht "Rumline". Your sextant has an index correction of -2.5'. Your height
of eye is 15 feet above the water. You wait for the Sun to reach its
maximum altitude (local noon). Your shadow is pointing north. The

maximum altitude you measured is 57 31.0' (Sun LL). It is a few minutes

before 1700 UT (that means it's about 1:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time, but
you don't need to know that!). Given the date and the time UT, what is the
Sun's declination? [Hint: you should find nearly 8.00 for the Sun's dec.]
What is the Sun's corrected altitude? What is its zenith distance [Hint: you
should find nearly 32.33]? And what is your latitude?
2) It is July 7, 2015, and you're still sailing off New England but further
offshore. Your sextant and your boat, the "Rumline", haven't changed.
Your I.C. is still -2.5' and your height of eye is still 15 feet. As is normal in
New England's latitude (and any latitude north of the Tropic of Cancer!),
your shadow points north at noon. You wait for that maximum latitude at
local noon. It occurs around 1630 UT. And this time you find that the
altitude of the Sun (LL) is 71 54.5'. What is the Sun's corrected altitude?
What is its ZD? [Hint: you should find nearly 17.935] Next, work out the
Sun's declination at this time. Finally what is your latitude? [Hint: you
should get nearly 4030' N].
3) It's a year later, June 21, 2016. You're sailing on the good ship "Sopa de
Tortuga" from mainland Ecuador to the Galapagos Islands on a fun
adventure. Your sextant's index correction this season is -2.0'. Your height
of eye on this vessel is 25 feet. You wait for local noon and your shadow is
pointing SOUTH. The UT (or GMT) is about 1746 (call it 1800 for this
calculation --that's close enough). The altitude you observe (Sun LL) is
66 35.5'. What is the corrected altitude? What is the Sun's ZD? You also
need the Sun's declination. [Hint: you should find 23.432]. And finally
what is your latitude? Did you use the right sign on the ZD?? Consult a
map if you need to... and remember it's called "Ecuador" for a reason!

C) Two longitude sights:

1) It's later in the afternoon on April 10, 2015 aboard the "Rumline"
(continuing from above). You've been sailing south at 5 knots for the past
few hours, and you estimate your current latitude is 40 08' N [Hint:
decimalized that's 40.133]. You take another sight of the Sun (LL as
usual). This time you record the exact UT (or GMT). It is 19:33:15. The
altitude you measure is 4050.5'. The details are the same: IC -2.5', Height
of eye: 15 feet. What is the corrected altitude of the Sun? What is that
decimalized (h)? [Hint: you should get h = 40.985]. We also need the
GHA and Dec of the Sun at 19:33:15. Look up these values in your tables
and then adjust for the time. [Hint: Dec=8.047, GHA = 112.990]. Now
get

out

your

calculator!

We

need

Calculate
Calculate

and

B.

A=sin(h)/cos(Dec)/cos(Lat)
B=tan(Dec)*tan(Lat)

Reverse
[Hint:

(here

the
you

means

sign

should

get

multiply)

of

A=0.866370,

B.
B=-0.119190]

Now what is the local hour angle of the Sun (LHA)? And finally add or
subtract

LHA

and

GHA

to

get

longitude?

[Hint: your longitude should be nearly 71.337 which is the same as 71

20' W]. Now you know your position!
2) It's June 21, 2016 and we're back aboard the "Sopa de Tortuga" heading
for the Galapagos. Since local noon we've been sailing due west at 6
knots. Our estimated latitude is 0 09' N. The IC is -2.0, height of eye is 25
feet. The UT is now 20:45:00, just about three hours after our noon sight.
We shoot the Sun's altitude (Sun LL, as usual) at that exact time and get
41 01.5'. Correct that altitude for IC, dip, ref, and SD. Then decimalize it.
What do you get? [Hint: h=41.162]. Now get the Dec and GHA. [Hint:
Dec=23.432,
Now

GHA=130.762]
get

out

your

Calculate
Calculate
Reverse

calculator!
A=sin(h)/cos(Dec)/cos(Lat)

B=tan(Dec)*tan(Lat)
the

(here
sign

means
of

multiply)
B.

[Hint: you should get A=0.717350 and B=-0.001135 (see the PS below)]
Finally what is your longitude? [Hint: you should be close to 86 30' W].

D) Polaris latitude
It's July 15, 2015. You're some miles (more than two, less than 20) due
north of Provincetown, Cape Cod on your yacht "Rumline" enjoying the
evening twilight following an afternoon of whale-watching. Your friends
have just explained, after a few shots of rum, that you've spelled
"Rhumbline" wrong. So you decide to show off and get your latitude by
shooting the altitude of the North Star with your sextant. You measure its
altitude and find 41 40. Your I.C. is still -2.5' and your height of eye is
still 15 feet. As you measure the North Star's altitude, you note that the
"pointer stars" of the Big Dipper are just about level with and to the left of
it (remember, the pointer stars are the two stars in the Big Dipper on the
end of the bowl, away from the dipper's handle, that "point" at the North
Star). You have your handy "Latitude by Polaris" table from class, so you
hold it up and orient it to match the sky... pointer stars level with North
Star. Then you read off the "RA" number from the bottom of the star chart
directly below Polaris. What number do you find? Next you go to the
Polaris Offset chart and find the corresponding correction [Hint: you
should find +34']. Now make your corrections for IC, dip, refraction [Hint:
-1.2' for refraction], and this Polaris Offset. What do you get for your
latitude? Check: is this north of the latitude of Provincetown?

Take your time working these "practice problems" and if you get them
back to me within ten days (by April 10, 2015) with 75% correct, you'll
get a fancy certificate of completion! And of course, if you have any
questions or need more hints along the way, you can email me.

Frank

Reed

Frank@ReedNavigation.com
Conanicut Island USA
PS: The value for B might look a little "funny" as displayed on your
calculator. If you don't know what the small "-3" implies (it's "scientific
notation"), you can change the display mode on your calculator to make it
go away and display as a more normal-looking decimal. To do that, use the
"MODE" key on the fx-260 calculator. There's a little printed key below
the display that provides hints. With the value for B displayed, if you press
"MODE 7 6", it will be displayed in a format that's more familiar with six
digits after the decimal point. With this display mode activated, you may
notice a little tag that says "FIX" in the top of the display. This means it's
showing a "fixed" number of digits beyond the decimal point rather than
using "scientific notation". To reset the calculator to its normal display
mode, either press the "ON" key which resets everything, or press "MODE
9" to reset only the display mode.