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A Device to Determine Position Rapidly Without Calculation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2010

Leo Randić
Affiliation:
The Astronomical Institute, Zagreb University, Yugoslavia

Extract

The problem of the determination of the observer's position on the Earth can be most easily solved in terms of the equatorial coordinates of the observer's zenith. From Fig. 1, in which the inner circle represents the Earth and the outer circle the celestial sphere, it can be seen that the zenithal point on the celestial sphere is its intersection with the prolongation of the radius to the observer's position. The geographical latitude of the observer is equal to the declination of the observer's zenith, and the geographical longitude is equal to the difference between Greenwich sidereal time (G.S.T.) and the right ascension of the observer's zenith. We can obtain G.S.T. by interpolation from a nautical almanac or directly from a separate watch or clock set to keep sidereal time.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Navigation 1956

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References

REFERENCES

1Marcuse, A. (1898). Die Anwendung photographischer Methoden fur die geographische Ortsbestimmung. Vierteljahreschrift der A.G., 33, 285.Google Scholar
2Randić, L. (1952). The use of zenith in determination of position on the Earth. Periodicum math. phys. et astron (Glasnik). Ser. II. T. 7, 244.Google Scholar