A sextant is not difficult to use but it does take practice to get a sight quickly and accurately, especially aboard a bouncing vessel. The instrument is held vertically in the right hand and the sighting is made through the telescope. The horizon is observed in the horizon glass while the celestial object is found in the mirror and positioned such that it is in line with the horizon. In the case of the Sun or Moon, the edge of the disk is placed on the horizon. If the lower edge is used, the sight is referred to as a lower limb sight. An upper limb sight is less used with the Sun but is necessary with the Moon since the lower edge may not actually be a circular one, depending on the phase.
Once the body is lined up properly, the sextant is "rocked" or pivoted as if the top of the index arm were attached to the rod of a pendulum and the arc were at the bottom with the swinging action. This is done to insure that the sextant is held vertically when the sight is taken. As the rocking is done, the celestial body will seem to trace an arc with respect to the horizon. The sextant is vertical or plumb when the body is at the bottom of the arc. The sight is then marked, the observer says "mark" to his timekeeper or observes the time himself.
The angular height of the celestial body is read on the arc and on the micrometer drum. The arc displays the degrees whereas the drum displays the minutes and tenths of minutes (or in some cases minutes and seconds). An arrow on the index arm points to the degrees on the arc. The degree is chosen that rests just to the right of the arrow. If the arrow pointing to the micrometer drum lies between two minutes, an estimation is made as to how many tenths of the way between it is or sometimes a vernier is available on the index arm for that purpose.
There are several techniques of getting the celestial body in the field of view. In sighting the Sun, assuming reasonably good sea conditions, the observer can get the horizon under the Sun in the glass and then move the index arm back and forth, homing in on the glare surrounding the Sun until the Sun's disk is seen. Filters will be needed in front of the index mirror to protect the eye from the Sun's brightness. Also, filters may be necessary in front of the horizon glass if the Sun's sparkle on the water is too bright. A second method is useful for non-glaring objects such as the planets, stars and daytime Moon. Hold the sextant upside down in the left hand and sight through the glass toward the celestial object. Then move the index arm until the horizon appears in the mirror. The advantage in this method is that it is easier to find the celestial object by direct observing and leave the easily found horizon line for the moving mirrors. Once the object is reasonably well lined up with the horizon, the sextant is turned right side up and the final adjustments with the micrometer drum are made.
If some mathematical calculations are made ahead of time, the rough altitude of the celestial body can be figured allowing a third method to be used. This involves presetting the sextant to the prefigured altitude and then scanning the horizon with the horizon glass until the celestial body comes into the field of view of the mirror. The rough azimuth of the body can also be prefigured so that the area of scanning can be limited. For this method, the sextant would be held right side up the whole time. Some practical hints on using the sextant are in order especially if the instrument represents a considerable investment and happens to be the only sextant aboard. A lanyard attached to the sextant and to the observer saves accidental dropping of the instrument, either to be damaged on the deck or to be lost to Davy Jones Locker. Wrapping oneself around the shrouds when taking a sight over the rail saves the navigator from the same fates.
Sighting when the ship gets to the top of a wave is important to insure that the real sea horizon is used rather than the closer top of a nearby wave. The real sea horizon can vary in distance depending on the height of the observer's eye but corrections for this can be made.
Once the sextant is obtained, adjustments to the mirrors may be necessary to reduce the index correction to a minimal amount. One or two adjusting screws are located on each mirror for this purpose. Each mirror should be perpendicular to the sextant frame and when the sextant is set at zero the two mirrors should be parallel to each other. Three tests are involved.
The first test is for perpendicularity of the index mirror. Hold the sextant on its side (with handle down) and with the index arm set to 35°. Place your eye close to the sextant near the index mirror so that you can see the sextant arc in the mirror (reflected) and also just to the right of the mirror (direct). If these two images are not in a straight or continuous line, the mirror is not perpendicular to the frame. Adjusting the screws will bring the images in line.
The second test is for perpendicularity of the horizon glass. Actually, the "glass" is only half glass with the right half of the frame filled with a mirror. The horizon is viewed through the glass, the reflected image of the celestial object viewed in the mirror. If this horizon glass is not perpendicular to the frame, the error is referred to as side error. If a star is viewed both in the glass and in the mirror with the sextant set near zero, by adjusting the altitude, the star should pass over itself, become superimposed. If instead the reflected image of the star passes to the right of the direct image, side error exists and can be minimized by adjusting the two screws at the base of the horizon glass. Other celestial bodies may be used for this test as well as reasonably distant terrestrial objects.
The third test is for parallelism of the index mirror and horizon glass when the index arm is set exactly at zero. If at this setting the horizon or a celestial body appear higher or lower in the mirror than in the glass, the mirrors are not parallel and should be adjusted until they are. This error is called index error. This is an error in the sextant itself and can be found by setting the sextant to read exactly zero and observing the sea horizon, a distant mountain top (a reasonably flat one), or a celestial object. At zero reading, the objects observed should appear the same height in the horizon glass and mirror.
If this is not the case, in other words, if the horizon or object in one side is above or below that in the other side, adjust the micrometer drum or the tangent screw until the objects are level with each other. Note the sextant reading. This is the amount of index correction. If the arrow is to the left of the zero or "on the arc", the I.C. is negative. If the arrow is to the right of the zero or "off the arc", the I.C. is positive. An easy way to remember this, though at first confusing, is to memorize. If it's on, it's off. If it's off, it's on. With a plastic sextant, the index correction should be ascertained for each set of sights since plastic will expand and contract with varying temperatures and will have different instrument errors. With a brass or aluminum framed instrument, the index correction should always be the same barring tampering with the mirrors or dropping the instrument.
Errors and Adjustments of the Sextant
The sextant is subject to a number of errors and adjustments. To find the true altitude of a celestial body from the observed these must be allowed and adjusted for. These are:
1. Index Error
2. Dip
3. Refraction
4. Parallax
5. Semi-diameter
Index error is an instrumental error. When looking through a sextant at the horizon the exact level will seldom be seen to be at 0°. Before you use the sextant the index error should be determined. If the error is less than 0° it should be added to whatever reading is obtained, if more subtracted.
Tip:
1. If its off, its on, ADD.
2. If its on, its off SUBTRACT.
Refraction is extracted from the Nautical Almanac. It allows for the bending of light rays as they travel through layers of varying density air.
Parallax corrections are needed if the observed body is a planet, the sun or the moon.
Semi-diameter correction is needed if the observed body is the sun or the moon. In this case either the top or bottom of the celestial object (upper or lower limb) is made to touch the horizon. To obtain the center of the body this correction is applied, from the Almanac. Once all the corrections are applied we have the true altitude. And this subtracted from 90 gives you the zenith distance. Which means you know exactly how far you are from that point on the earth which is at right angles to your observed celestial body. Remember the more sights you take the better you will get, so get lots of practice.
