Research MOR Sight Reduction

Bowditch N.(1995). American Practical Navigator.
Maryland : USA
Comparison of Various Methods of Sight Reduction
I. Definition of Sight Reduction

Celestial navigation involves determining a circular line of position based on an observer’s
distance from a celestial body’s geographic position (GP). Should the observer determine both a
body’s GP and his distance from the GP, he would have enough information to plot a line of
position; he would be somewhere on a circle whose center was the GP and whose radius equaled
his distance from that GP. That circle, from all points on which a body’s measured altitude Page 307
would be equal, is a circle of equal altitude. There is a direct proportionality between a body’s
altitude as measured by an observer and the distance of its GP from that observer; the lower the
altitude, the farther away the GP. Therefore, when an observer measures a body’s altitude he
obtains an indirect measure of the distance between himself and the body’s GP. Sight reduction
is the process of converting that indirect measurement into a line of position. Sight reduction
reduces the problem scale to manageable size. Depending on a body’s altitude, its GP could be
thousands of miles from the observer’s position. The size of a chart required to plot this large
distance would be impractical. To eliminate this problem, the navigator does not plot this line of
position directly. Indeed, he does not plot the GP at all. Rather, he chooses an assumed position
(AP) near, but usually not coincident with, his DR position.
II. Objective of Sight Reduction

Reducing a celestial sight to obtain a line of position consists of six steps:
1. Correcting sextant altitude (hs) to obtain observed altitude (ho).
2. Determining the body’s GHA and declination.
3. Selecting an assumed position and finding that position’s local hour angle. Page 307
4. Computing altitude and azimuth for the assumed position.
5. Comparing computed and observed altitudes. 6. Plotting the line of position.

Kotlarics S. (2000). SIGHT REDUCTION BY TABLES OR BY CELESTIAL NAVIGATION
COMPUTER. London
I. Methods of Getting Sight Reduction

The astro-navigator today, if he be not too conservative in his methods, is still seeking better
ways of performing his calculation of the sight reduction problem to give him a position line.
This paper presents three serious novelties and makes a detailed comparison of their attributes
and benefits for the practicing navigator. These methods are :
(a) The author’s new Sight Reduction Tables K21 which, based on the entering arguments
Latitude, Meridian Angle and Declination, give tabulated altitude and azimuth to an
accuracy of 0.2' and 0.2“ respectively, for all celestial bodies and all Latitudes
(b) .Two new small navigational computers, the Galaxy 1 and the Intercepter, which are
specially programmed for the solution of intercept and azimuth. Procedures for using
both the Rapid Inspection Tables and the computers are given in detail, to assist the
navigator to make his choice. Comparisons are also made with the best known existing
tables published by the U.S.A., Britain and the Hydrographic Office of the Yugoslav
Navy.
Burch D. (2013). Celestial Navigation. USA
I. Sight Reduction Tables

The Marcq Saint Hilaire method requires the use of Sight Reduction tables in order to calculate
the altitude of the sun at the assumed position. The simplest ones to use are those published by
the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (U.S.), newly referred to as Pub. No. 249 in North
America, and AP 3270 in the UK. They were originally prepared for air navigation in the early
sixties by the Hydrographic Office, which explains that they are still often known as H.O. 249.
Once the coordinates of the GP of a celestial object are calculated from the Almanac, by
interpolation to the nearest second for the precise time of the sight, the Sight Reduction Tables in
Pub. No. 249 allow the calculation of the angle of that object above the horizon, and its bearing
(direction) as seen from any assumed position on earth. The Sight Reduction Tables cover a
sector of the celestial sphere extending from 30° N to 30° S of the equator, which includes the
sun, the moon, the planets, and some of the main stars. Other Sight Reduction tables, such as
H.O. 229, are specifically designed for marine navigators; they cover the whole celestial sphere
but are considerably bulkier. Together with the concise Sight Reduction Tables at the end of the
Nautical Almanac, however, they are traditionally perceived as more difficult to use than those in
Pub. No. 249.
I. Celestial Navigation
The same techniques apply in Celestial Navigation; in this case, the Lines Of Position, or LOPs,
are circles of usually very large diameter centered on the Geographic Position of the sun
(Sometimes, we can take concurrent sights on several stars and/or planets and obtain our position
at the intersection of two or three LOPs determined by the angle at which we see the celestial
bodies above the horizon At other times, we are restricted to the use of a single body, for
instance the sun or the moon, in which case we need to take several sights at different times of
the day If the boat has moved between sights of a single celestial body, we must advance the first
LOP by the direction and distance traveled by the boat between the sights in order to obtain a
running fix
Bernal J. (2006). Clueless Celestial Navigation. US
I. Use of Sextant
The Great Geeks of History have done all that work for you over the centuries, and offer it to you
condensed into what we call the Nautical Almanac. This book can tell you at any given time
where any celestial object will be in relation to the earth’s center. Your viewpoint, through the
sextant, will give an angle of observation, which, when compared to an angle from a real-world
location, tells you how far you are from that location. 2 or more of these angle comparisons can
be crossed to give you a 'fix' on your position. There are many different ways to find out where
you are, from easy to hard, and we’ll go over them in that order. You don’t have to know HOW
it works, only that it DOES. Simply following directions on the worksheets included will get you
through Noon Sights and advanced Polaris Sights. If you want to learn past that, it’s in here too,
but I won’t fault you if you don’t want to. The first, most basic way to use a sextant is to
determine your Latitude by sighting Polaris, the north star (which you don’t necessarily need to
have the Almanac for unless you’re a stickler for details). The second is finding Longitude
through a Noon Sight of the Sun. This requires a series of sextant sights and watch set to
Greenwich Mean Time. Then we’ll do Latitude by Noon Sight of the Sun, which requires the
Almanac and data from the same Noon Sight taken for Longitude. The above stuff is plenty to
get you going, and very adequate to get you fixed on just where the heck you ended up at least
once every 12 hours. Beyond that, if you really feel like learning, is where it gets more difficult
but useful, allowing you to figure your position any time 2 or more celestial objects are visible.
II. Definition of Dip Correction
Sextant sights are full of little Sight Corrections depending on time of year, atmospheric
refraction; the list goes on and on. The higher your eye is above sea level, the larger your angle
will be when sighting your celestial target. This needs a correction in your calculations, and this
is called your Dip Correction. The first thing you need to know is how high your eye is from the
ground (sea). It should be pretty easy to figure out, and it doesn’t have to be super-accurate, just
a rough guess. For example, if you’re on the deck of a boat that is 4 feet above sea level, and
your eye is 5 feet above that, your eye height will be 9 feet. There is a table in your Nautical
Almanac which tells you your Dip Correction based on that height. It should be a yellow page,
near the front of the book, and it is usually on a heavier grade paper than the rest of the pages. If
you do not have the yellow page, this table will be on page A2 in the front of your almanac.

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Bowditch N.(1995). American Practical Navigator.

Comparison of Various Methods of Sight Reduction

I. Definition of Sight Reduction

II. Objective of Sight Reduction

1. Correcting sextant altitude (hs) to obtain observed altitude (ho).

2. Determining the body’s GHA and declination.

4. Computing altitude and azimuth for the assumed position.

5. Comparing computed and observed altitudes. 6. Plotting the line of position.

Comparison of Various Methods of Sight Reduction

I. Methods of Getting Sight Reduction

Comparison of Various Methods of Sight Reduction

I. Sight Reduction Tables

Comparison of Various Methods of Sight Reduction

II. Definition of Dip Correction

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