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A standard Brunton compass, used commonly by geologists and surveyors to obtain a bearing in the field. In navigation, bearing or azimuth is the horizontal angle between the direction of an object and north or another object. The angle value can be specified in various angular units, such as degrees, mils, or grad. More specifically:
A large frame quadrant at the Beijing Ancient Observatory.It was constructed in 1673. A quadrant is an instrument used to measure angles up to 90°.Different versions of this instrument could be used to calculate various readings, such as longitude, latitude, and time of day.
Back staff, the best known of which is the Davis' quadrant. It could measure the altitude of the Sun without having the navigator directly observe the Sun. Cross staff, an older instrument long out of use. Kamal Very simple instrument used primarily by Arabian navigators. It consists of a small board with a knotted piece of twine through the ...
32-point compass rose. The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography.A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each separated by 90 degrees, and secondarily divided by four ordinal (intercardinal) directions—northeast, southeast, southwest, and ...
18th-century azimuthal compass held in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain. An azimuth compass (or azimuthal compass) is a nautical instrument used to measure the magnetic azimuth, the angle of the arc on the horizon between the direction of the Sun or some other celestial object and the magnetic north.
For maritime and aviation applications, the clock bearing is almost always a relative bearing; i.e., the angle stated or implied is angular distance from the longitudinal axis of the vessel or imaginary vessel to the bearing. However, if the 12:00 position is associated with a true bearing, then the observed position is also.
To calculate the azimuth of the Sun or a star given its declination and hour angle at a specific location, modify the formula for a spherical Earth. Replace φ 2 with declination and longitude difference with hour angle, and change the sign (since the hour angle is positive westward instead of east).
The general alphabetical dip direction (N, SE, etc) can be added to reduce ambiguity. For a feature with a dip of 45° and a dip direction of 75°, the strike and dip can be written as 345/45 NE, 165/45 NE, or 075,45. The compass quadrant direction for the strike can also be used in place of the azimuth, written as S15E or N15W. [1] [3]