Star Identifier?
 

Anybody know the history of this item?
I read the description but it gave me a headache trying to figure out how it’s supposed to be used!
Must be my diesel soaked brain!
Derk

Star Finder and Identifier
 

Nice find.

A star finder and identifier is “Used in conjunction with an almanac to identify the stars and plot the position of planets.”
From: https://collection.sciencemuseumgrou...nal-instrument

And:
“British Admiralty Star Finder and Identifier (NP323) is used to predict the bearing from true north (azimuth) and angle above the horizon (altitude) of the brightest stars. It is used for setting up star sights so that observations can be made using a firm horizon, by pre-setting the sextant and looking over the compass. In this way stars can be observed through the telescope before they are easily visible to the naked eye.

Star sights using this technique are much more accurate than if taken when the sky is dark enough to recognise the stars in constellations with the naked eye, due to the superior quality of the horizon. The instructions provided with the identifier are explicit.

Planets can also be pre-set using the identifier, enabling daylight sights of Venus and occasionally Mars and Jupiter.”

From here: https://www.amnautical.com/a/s/produ...and-identifier

These discs are used to identify stars which will then have the altitude measured wth a sextant. At sea a sextant is used that references the horizon for the base line. In flight a sextant is used that has a bubble to achieve the horizontal reference. In a non-pressurised aircraft and early pressurised aircraft the starshot was taken in an astrodome. In later aircraft a periscopic sextant is used which you poke out through a fitting in the top of the fuselage. I don't know if all Boeing 727s had this fitting but the 727s operated by Trans Australia Airlines did along with a platform stowed on the bulkhead that clipped to the cockpit floor to stand on when taking the shots. The airline employed a navigator in those days.
The inertial reference system (IRS) made the navigator and all his equipment redundant. GPS even more so. Soon there will be very few people fully conversant with the art of astro navigation.

David

Gatty
 

A good read is a book written by Harold Gatty: a native of Tasmania , he was Wiley Post"s navigator . The book describes everyday navigation methods that don't require fancy technology. Wiley Post was a famous pre-war aviator but like so many he lost his life pushing the limits .
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