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Influence of chronometer error uncertainties on the Longitude of Shackleton's vessel, Endurance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2023

Lars Bergman ,
David L. Mearns  and
Robin G. Stuart
Lars Bergman
Affiliation:
Saltsjöbaden, Sweden
David L. Mearns
Affiliation:
Blue Water Recoveries Limited, Midhurst, UK
Robin G. Stuart*
Affiliation:
Valhalla, New York, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: robinstuart@earthlink.net
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Abstract

In 1915 while the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition's vessel Endurance was icebound in the Weddell Sea, lunar occultation timings were carried out in order to rate the chronometers and thereby find longitude. The original observations have been re-analysed using modern lunar ephemerides and catalogues of star positions. The times derived in this way are found to differ by an average of 20 s from those obtained during the expedition using positions given from the Nautical Almanac and introduces an additional offset of the true positions to the east of those recorded in the log.

Keywords

clock correctionsephemerispolar navigationsextanttime
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Navigation , Volume 75 , Issue 6 , November 2022 , pp. 1269 - 1279
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Royal Institute of Navigation

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