Synopsis

 

Astronavigation from Square One: by Alan Murray: a textbook for all those learning “astro”:-

                               

Students of "astro" and RYA Yachtmaster Ocean theory courses come in all shapes and sizes with a widely varying knowledge of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars and their respective role in astronavigation.

 

This new text, comprising 230 pages and first published in August 2008, aims to address this varying knowledge base by informing those new to the subject with a straight-forward aid to understanding.  It puts flesh on the bones of “astro” enabling the student to get so much more from a theory course. For the more experienced it offers some scientific detail and discussion of the astronavigator’s world.

 

• It uses current data: – 2009 Sun, Moon, planet and star data – working in the present and near future rather than the misty past.  There will be a new edition in August each year.
• There are 150, easily reproducible line diagrams to aid understanding.
• There is an extensive and detailed “astro” glossary.
• The sextant’s development and use are explained.
• Time is explored in full – demystifying apparent and mean time.
• Straight-forward proformas are shown for each heavenly body.
• There are 36 fully worked examples, showing all the working.
• A new classification of the available tables is given, aiding their understanding and usefulness.
• Data sources are explored– e.g. NP 314, NP 303, NP 401 and Reeds Astronavigation Tables.
• Explanations and examples of ABC tables for azimuth computation are given.
• Interpolation is discussed and its limitations detailed.
• Long-hand and calculator methods are shown in full detail, together with sight reduction table methods.
• An appendix is dedicated to the understanding of the maths of spherical trigonometry.
• A full and detailed index is presented to aid in rapid reference.

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