ASTRONOMICAL

POSITION LINES

ASTRONOMICAL POSITION
LINES
ASTRONOMICAL POSITION LINE IS A PART OF A

LARGE CIRCLE DRAWN ON THE SURFACE OF

THE EARTH.
GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF THE HB IS THE
CENTRE AND ZENITH DISTANCE IS THE
RADIUS.
ALL OBSERVERS ON THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF
THIS CIRCLE HAVE SAME ZD AT THE SAME
TIME TO THE SAME HB.

ASTRONOMICAL POSITION
LINES
THIS POSITION CIRCLE HAS A LARGE RADIUS

AND
.:
ANY
SMALL
PART
OF
THE
CIRCUMFERENCE CAN BE CONSIDERED TO BE
A STRAIGHT LINE
THIS STRAIGHT LINE IS CALLED POSITION LINE
OR LOP.

ASTRONOMICAL POSITION
LINES
AZIMUTH (TRUE BRG) OF THE HB FROM THE

OBSERVER IS THE RADIUS OF THE POSITION

CIRCLE.
PL IS .: AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE AZIMUTH,
SINCE THE CIRCUMFERENCE AND RADIUS ARE
AT RIGHT ANGLES.
AZ CAN BE CALCULATED USING ABC TABLES.
ZD CAN BE CALCULATED FROM SEXT
ALTITUDE
HENCE PL CAN BE DRAWN.

ASTRONOMICAL POSITION
LINES
TO DRAW PL, WE NEED ZD TO BE VERY SMALL.
GP OF HB MAY BE 100s/1000s OF MILES FROM

THE OBSERVER.
IF ZD IS VERY SMALL AND IN LOW LATITUDES, THE
POSITION CIRCLE CAN BE DRAWN ON A CHART.
SINCE WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN THE ENTIRE
CIRCLE, WE NEED ONLY A SMALL ARC OF THE
CIRCLE NEAR THE DR POSITION.
THIS SMALL ARC APPROXIMATES TO A ST LINE ON
A CHART.

ASTRONOMICAL POSITION
LINES
ONE OBSERVATION GIVES ONE POSITION LINE.

IN ORDER TO OBTAIN A FIX, WE NEED MORE

THAN ONE PL TO INTERSECT EACH OTHER.

ASTRONOMICAL POSITION
LINES
COMMON METHODS TO OBTAIN PL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

LATITUDE BY MERIDIAN ALTITUDE.

LONGITUDE BY CHRONOMETER.
INTERCEPT.
EX MERIDIAN.
ALTITUDE OF POLARIS.

LATITUDE BY MERALT
FIND TA WHEN HB IS ON MERIDIAN.
AZ IS 000* OR 180*
PL IS .: 090 270.
.: LAT IS THE POSITION LINE.
AT MERPASS, GET THE SEXT ALT.
FOR GMT MERPASS, DECLN FROM NA.
FROM SEXT ALT TA MZD.
LAT = MZD + DECLN (+ SAME NAME, - OPP

NAME)

LATITUDE BY MERALT
PROCEDURE
USING DR LONGITUDE, FIND GMT OF MERPASS.
CONVERT GMT TO SHIPS TIME AND OBSERVE
MERALT.
GET THE TA AND NAME IT N OR S ACCORDING TO
THE BRG.
CALCULATE ZD = 90 TA AND NAME OPP TO BRG.
FROM NA, GET DECLN FOR THAT GMT.
LAT = MZD + DEC ( + SAME NAME, - OPP NAME).
PL OBTAINED WILL BE EAST WEST.

LATITUDE BY MERALT
PROBLEM 1
ON 05 MAY 1992, IN DR 50*10 S, 64* 15W,
THE OBSERVED MERIDIAN ALTITUDE OF
SATURN WAS 56* 00.3. IF HE WAS 10m, FIND
LATITUDE AND DIRECTION OF PL.

LONGITUDE BY CHRONOMETER
SHIPS DR LATITUDE IS USED, GIVING CO LAT (PZ).
FROM OBSERVED ALTITUDE, WE GET THE ZD (ZX).
TIME OF OBSERVATION GIVES DEC FROM NA (PX).
.: IN TRIANGLE PZX, ALL THREE SIDES KNOWN.
USE HAVERSINE FORMULA TO CALCULATE LHA (P).
FROM NA, WE GET GHA.
HENCE LONG = GHA + LHA.
CALC AZ FROM ABC TABLES.
DRAW PL 90* TO AZIMUTH.

LONGITUDE BY CHRONOMETER
PROCEDURE.
OBSERVE SEXT ALT AND NOTE GMT.
OBTAIN GHA AND DECL FROM NA FOR THAT
TIME.
CALC TRUE ZENITH DISTANCE.
DETERMINE / P USING HAVERSINE FORMULA.
GET LHA.
LHA + GHA = LONGITUDE
CALC AZ FROM ABC TABLES -> GET PL
DIRECTION.

LONGITUDE BY CHRONOMETER
PROBLEM 2
IN DR 27*40 N,140* 23 W, ON 30 NOVEMBER
1992, PM , THE SEXTANT ALTITUDE OF
MOONS UL WAS FOUND TO BE 30*51 AT 11h
11m 11s CHRONOMETER TIME (ERROR 1m
02s SLOW). IF HE = 12 m, IE = NIL, FIND THE
PL AND A POSITION THROUGH WHICH IT
PASSES.

INTERCEPT
DR LAT AND LONG USED.
FROM DR LAT, WE GET PZ ( CO LAT).
DR LONG AND GHA OF THE HB AT THE TIME

OF SIGHT, WE GET LHA i.e/ P

FROM DECL OF HB, WE GET PX (PD = 90
DEC)
SOLVE THE PZX TRIANGLE USING HAVERSINE
FORMULA,
Hav ZX = (hav P sin PZ sin PX)+ hav (PZ diff PX)

INTERCEPT (contd)
THE ZD OBTAINED IS THE CALCULATED ZD FOR

THE DR USED.
GET TRUE ZD FROM THE SEXTANT ALTITUDE
TAKEN AT THE TIME OF SIGHT.
DIFF BETWEEN TZD AND CZD = INTERCEPT.
INTERCEPT IS FROM THE DR POSITION,
TOWARDS OR AWAY FROM THE GP OF THE HB.
AZ IS CALCULATED FROM ABC TABLES.
DRAW PL IN A DIRECTION AT RIGHT ANGLES TO
AZ AT THE INTERCEPT TERMINAL POINT (ITP).

INTERCEPT
PROCEDURE
GET SEXT ALT AND GMT AT THE TIME OF SIGHT.
OBTAIN GHA AND DECL OF THE HB FROM NA.
DETERMINE HA USING GHA AND DR LONGITUDE.
CALCULATE CZD USING FORMULA.
OBTAIN TZD FROM SEXT ALTITUDE.
GET INTERCEPT (TOWARDS IF TZD IS LESS THAN
CZD AND AWAY IF TZD IS MORE THAN CZD).
OBTAIN AZ AND THE DIRECTION OF PL 90* TO AZ.
DRAW PL AT THE INTERCEPT TERMINAL POINT (ITP)

INTERCEPT
PROBLEM 3.
ON 10 OCTOBER 1992,AM, AT SHIP IN DR
POSITION 15*46 N 070*02E SUNS LL GAVE A
SEXTANT ALTITUDE OF 57*20. IE = 2.5 OFF
THE ARC, HE = 15m WHEN THE
CHRONOMETER SHOWED 5h 30m 15s (error
01m 30s slow). FIND THE INTERCEPT AND PL.

EX MERIDIAN
SIMILAR TO MERALT SIGHT.
SIGHT TAKEN WHEN HB CLOSER TO OR NEAR

THE MERIDIAN.
A SMALL CORRECTION IS APPLIED TO THE TZD
TO GET THE MZD FOR THE HB.
OBTAIN THE CORRECTION FROM THE EX
MERIDIAN TABLES I TO III.
CALCULATE AZ FROM ABC TABLES.
DRAW PL AT RIGHT ANGLES TO AZ AT THE DR
LONGITUDE.

EX MERIDIAN
PROCEDURE
WORK OUT EX MERIDIAN LIMITS ( TABLE IV).
GET ALTITUDE WITHIN EML AND THE GMT.
GET DECL AND GHA FROM NA.
CALC LHA USING DR LONG.
CALC TZD FROM SEXT ALT.
APPLY REDUCTION FROM EX MERIDIAN TABLES TO TZD TO
GET MZD.
CALCULATE LAT FROM DEC AND MZD.
GET AZ FROM ABC TABLES.
DRAW PL AT RIGHT ANGLES TO AZ FROM CALC LAT AND
DR LONG.

EX MERIDIAN
PROBLEM 4
ON 06 MARCH 1992, IN EP 52*12N 170*40E,
THE SEXTANT ALTITUDE OF SUNS UL NEAR
THE MERIDIAN WAS 31* 59.8 WHEN THE
CHRONOMETER (ERROR 01m 50s fast)
SHOWED 01h 29m 20s. IF IE = 2.3 ON THE
ARC AND HE = 40m FIND DIRECTION OF PL
AND LATITUDE WHERE IT CROSSES THE DR
LONGITUDE.

POLARIS
ALTITUDE OF CELESTIAL POLE = LAT OF

OBSERVER.
POLARIS IS VERY NEAR TO NORTH POLE.
DECL OF POLARIS = N 89* 10.
.: LAT OF OBS CAN BE FOUND WITH SMALL
CORRECTION.
CORRECTION AVAILABLE IN NAUTICAL
ALMANAC.

POLARIS
Corrections to True Altitudes are ao,a1 and a2.
Ao = To allow for addition / subtraction to the

TA allowing for the Polaris, assumed to be on

the meridian, depending on LHA Aries, and
also to cater for SHA Polaris (a constant 58.8
is added to the correction).
A1 =To cater for variation in Latitudes from
50*N. ( a constant 0.6 is added).

POLARIS
A2 = To cater for variation in SHA and Decl of

Polaris every month. ( a constant 0.6 is

added).
A total of 1.0* is added arbitrarily to all
corrections to ensure positive value of all
corrections, which is subtracted in the final
calculation of Latitude.
Lat = TA 1.0 +ao + a1 + a2.

POLARIS
PROBLEM 5
ON THE MORNING OF 01 DEC 92 IN LONG 065*
34 E, SEXTANT ALTITUDE OF POLE STAR WAS
23* 01 AT 01h 00m 24s CHRONOMETER TIME
(ERROR 1m 10s slow). IF IE = 1.2 OFF THE
ARC AND HE = 17m FIND THE DIRECTION OF
PL AND THE POSITION THROUGH WHICH IT
PASSES.