THE MARINE SEXTANT:

THE SEXTANT IS AN INSTRUMENT USED FOR MEASURING ANGLES. IT IS SO NAMED

BECAUSE ITS ARC IS ONE SIXTH OF A CIRCLE 60. BEING AN INSTRUMENT OF DOUBLE
REFLECTION IT CAN MEASURE ANGLES UPTO 120. IN ACTUAL PRACTICE, THE ARC OF THE
SEXTANT IS A LITTLE MORE THAN 60 AND IS HENCE GRADUATED UPTO ABOUT 130.
THERE ARE OTHER INSTRUMENTS, SUCH AS THE QUADRANT, QUINTANT, THEODOLITE,
ASTROLOBE, ETC., BUT THEY ARE NOT IN USE AT SEA.
THE SEXTANTS PURPOSE IS TO MEASURE ANGLES, EITHER VERTICAL OR
HORIZONTAL TO OBTAIN THE NECESSARY DATA TO CHECK THE VESSELS POSITION.
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE MAY BE DETERMINED BY A COMBINATION OF SEXTANT,
CHRONOMETER AND NAUTICAL ALMANAC READINGS.
THIS PRECISION INSTRUMENT IS BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE, ENUNCIATED BY THE
FIRST LAW OF LIGHT, THAT WHEN A RAY OF LIGHT IS REFLECTED FROM A PLANE MIRROR,
THEN THE ANGLE OF INCIDENCE OF THE RAY EQUALS THE ANGLE OF REFLECTION. IN THE
SEXTANT A RAY OF LIGHT IS REFLECTED TWICE BY TWO MIRRORS, THE INDEX AND
HORIZON MIRRORS, IN THE SAME PLANE. WHEN A RAY OF LIGHT IS REFLECTED IN THIS
WAY BY TWO PLANE MIRRORS, THEN THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE DIRECTION OF THE
ORIGINAL RAY AND THE DIRECTION OF THE FINAL REFLECTED RAY IS TWICE THE ANGLE
BETWEEN THE MIRRORS.
ERRORS OF THE MARINE SEXTANT:
THERE ARE THREE MAIN ERRORS, WHICH CAN QUITE EASILY BE CORRECTED BY THE
MARINER. A FOURTH ERROR, FOR COLLIMATION, CAN ALSO BE CORRECTED, WITH CARE
AND ATTENTION, BUT ONLY TO AN OLDER SEXTANT WHERE TELESCOPE COLLARS ARE
FITTED WITH ADJUSTING SCREWS.
THE FIRST ERROR, OF PERPENDICULARITY, IS CAUSED BY THE INDEX MIRROR NOT
BEING PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF THE INSTRUMENT. TO CHECK IF THIS ERROR IS
PRESENT, CLAMP THE INDEX ARM BETWEEN A THIRD AND HALFWAY ALONG THE ARC,
REMOVE THE TELESCOPE, AND LOOK OBLIQUELY INTO THE INDEX MIRROR, OBSERVING
THE TRUE AND REFLECTED ARCS OF THE SEXTANT. HOLD THE SEXTANT HORIZONTAL, ARC
AWAY FROM THE BODY. IF THE TRUE AND REFLECTED ARCS ARE NOT IN LINE WITH EACH
OTHER, THEN AN ERROR OF PERPENDICULARITY MUST BE CONSIDERED TO EXIST.
TO CORRECT THIS ERROR, ADJUST THE SCREW AT THE REAR OF THE INDEX
MIRROR UNTIL THR TRUE AND REFLECTED ARCS ARE BROUGHT TOGETHER IN LINE.
THE SECOND ERROR, SIDE ERROR, IS CAUSED BY THE HORIZON MIRROR NOT
BEING PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF THE INSTRUMENT. THERE ARE TWO WAYS OF
CHECKING IF THIS ERROR IS PRESENT. THE FIRST IS BY OBSERVING A STAR. HOLD THE
SEXTANT IN THE VERTICAL POSITION WITH THE INDEX ARM SET AT ZERO, AND OBSERVE A
SECOND MAGNITUDE STAR THROUGH THE TELESCOPE. IF THE TRUE AND REFLECTED
STARS ARE SIDE BY SIDE, THEN SIDE ERROR MUST BE CONSIDERED TO EXIST. IT IS OFTEN
THE CASE WHEN CHECKING THE INSTRUMENT FOR SIDE ERROR THAT THE TRUE AND
REFLECTED STARS ARE COINCIDENT. IF THIS IS THE CASE, A SMALL AMOUNT OF SIDE
ERROR MAY EXIST, BUT A MINOR ADJUSTMENT OF THE MICROMETER SHOULD CAUSE THE
TRUE STAR TO APPEAR BELOW THE REFLECTED IMAGE. SHOULD, HOWEVER, THE
REFLECTED IMAGE MOVE TO ONE SIDE RATHER THAN MOVE IN A VERTICAL MOTION, SIDE
ERROR MAY BE CONSIDERED TO EXIST.
THE SECOND WAY IS BY OBSERVING THE HORIZON. SET THE INDEX ARM AT
ZERO AND HOLD THE SEXTANT JUST OFF THE HORIZONTAL POSITION. LOOK THROUGH THE
TELESCOPE AT THE TRUE AND REFLECTED HORIZONS. IF THEY ARE MISALIGNED, AS
SHOWN IN FIG., THEN SIDE ERROR MUST BE CONSIDERED TO EXIST.

TO CORRECT FOR SIDE ERROR, ADJUST THE CENTRE SCREW FURTHEST FROM
THE PLANE OF THE INSTRUMENT AT THE BACK OF THE HORIZON MIRROR, TO BRING
EITHER THE STAR AND ITS IMAGE INTO COINCIDENCE OR THE TRUE AND REFLECTED
HORIZONS INTO LINE.
THE THIRD ERROR, INDEX ERROR, IS CAUSED BY THE INDEX MIRROR AND
THE HORIZON MIRROR NOT BEING OUT OF PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER WHEN THE INDEX
ARM IS SET AT ZERO. TO CHECK WHETHER INDEX ERROR IS PRESENT BY OBSERVING A
STAR, LOOK THROUGH THE TELESCOPE WHEN THE SEXTANT IS SET AT ZERO, AND IF THE
REFLECTED IMAGE OF THE STAR IS ABOVE OR BELOW THE TRUE IMAGE, THEN INDEX
ERROR MUST BE CONSIDERED TO EXIST. SHOULD THE TRUE AND REFLECTED IMAGES BE
COINCIDENT, THEN NO ERROR WILL EXIST. TO CHECK BY OBSERVING THE HORIZON, SET
THE INDEX ARM AT ZERO, HOLD THE SEXTANT IN THE VERTICAL POSITION, AND OBSERVE
THE LINE OF THE TRUE AND REFLECTED HORIZONS; IF THEY ARE SEEN AS ONE
CONTINUOUS LINE, THEN NO ERROR EXISTS, BUT IF THE LINE BETWEEN THE TRUE AND
REFLECTED HORIZONS IS BROKEN, AN ADJUSTMENT NEEDS TO BE MADE TO REMOVE THE
ERROR. THIS ADJUSTMENT IS MADE BY TURNING THE SCREW NEAREST TO THE PLANE OF
THE INSTRUMENT. INDEX ERROR MAY ALSO BE CHECKED BY OBSERVING THE SUN. FIT THE
SHADED EYEPIECE TO THE TELESCOPE. CLAMP THE INDEX ARM AT ABOUT 32 OFF THE ARC
AND OBSERVE THE TRUE AND REFLECTED IMAGES TO THE POSITION OF LIMB UPON LIMB.
REPEAT THE OBSERVATION WITH INDEX ARM SET AT ABOUT 32 ON THE ARC, AND NOTE
THE TWO READINGS OF BOTH OBSERVATIONS. THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF THE INDEX
ERROR IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO READINGS DIVIDED BY TWO, AND WOULD
BE CALLED ON THE ARC IF THE ON THE ARC READING WERE THE GREATER OF THE TWO,
AND OFF THE ARC IF THE OFF THE ARC READING WERE THE GREATER.
EXAMPLE: ADJUST THE MICROMETER TO BRING THE TRUE SUN INTO CONTACT WITH
THE REFLECTED SUN. NOTE THE READING (SAY 0 36 OFF THE ARC).
REPEAT THE OBSERVATION, BUT WITH IMAGES THE OTHER WAY ABOUT. NOTE THE
READING (SAY 0 27 ON THE ARC).
TAKE THE DIFFERENCE AND DIVIDE BY TWO.
INDEX ERROR IS (36-27)/2 = 4.5 OFF THE ARC.
THIS ERROR MUST BE SUBTRACTED FROM THE FUTURE SEXTANT READINGS.
THE ACCURACY OF THE READINGS MAY BE CHECKED BY ADDING THE NUMERICAL
VALUES OF BOTH READINGS TOGETHER AND DIVIDING THE NUMBER BY FOUR. THE
RESULTING VALUE SHOULD EQUAL THE SEMI-DIAMETER OF THE SUN FOR THE PERIOD AT
WHICH THE OBSERVATION WAS TAKEN.
SOMETIMES AN INSTRUMENT SUFFERS FROM SIDE ERROR AND INDEX ERROR
COMBINED. SHOULD THIS UNDESIRABLE CONDITION BE APPARENT, THE MARINER CAN
RESOLVE THE PROBLEM BY REMOVING EACH ERROR A LITTLE AT A TIME, AS SHOWN IN
FIG. THE CORRECTION IS MADE BY TURNING THE SECOND AND THEN THE THIRD
ADJUSTMENT SCREWS ALTERNATELY, BY A SMALL AMOUNT EACH TIME, UNTIL
COINCIDENCE OF IMAGE IS ACHIEVED.
COLLIMATION ERROR:
THIS IS AN ERROR CAUSED BY THE AXIS OF THE
TELESCOPE NOT BEING PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF THE INSTRUMENT. TO CHECK
WHETHER THE ERROR IS PRESENT, INSERT THE INVERTING TELESCOPE, SETTING THE
EYEPIECE SO THAT ONE PAIR OF THE CROSS-WIRES ARE PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF THE
SEXTANT.
TO CHECK BY OBSERVATION OF TWO STARS (SELECTED ABOUT 90 APART), MOVE
THE INDEX ARM TO BRING THE TWO STARS INTO EXACT CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER
RESTING ON THE WIRE NEAREST TO THE PLANE OF THE SEXTANT. NOW TILT THE SEXTANT
UPWARD SO AS TO BRING THEM ON TO THE WIRE WHICH IS FURTHEST FROM THE PLANE OF
THE INSTRUMENT. SHOULD THE IMAGES DIVERGE OR CONVERGE FROM THE TOP
INTERSECTIONS OF THE WIRES, IT MUST BE ASSUMED THAT AN ERROR OF COLLIMATION
EXISTS, AND THAT THE AXIS OF THE TELESCOPE IS NOT PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF THE
INSTRUMENT.

THIS ERROR CAN BE CORRECTED BY ADJUSTMENT OF THE TWO SCREWS IN THE

COLLAR OR TELESCOPE MOUNTING. THE SCREWS ARE MOVED TOGETHER, ONE BEING
TIGHTENED, THE OTHER SLACKENED, TO ALIGN THE STARS ON THE TOP INTERSECTION
WHICH WILL BRING THE TELESCOPE BACK TO PARALLEL WITH THE SEXTANT FRAME. (NOT
ALL SEXTANTS, HOWEVER, HAVE ADJUSTABLE COLLAR SCREWS.)