This invention was crucial for improving maritime navigation during the age of exploration, connecting it with the rapid technological innovations occurring between 1450 and 1750. By manipulating the parts, a user can measure the angular distance between two celestial bodies, usually earth and either the sun or moon A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument that measures the angular distance between two visible objects
Navigation history - Sextants
The primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of celestial navigation.
The meaning of sextant is an instrument for measuring angular distances used especially in navigation to observe altitudes of celestial bodies (as in ascertaining latitude and longitude).
Octants, with 45 arcs, were first used to calculate latitude Sextants were first developed with wider arcs for calculating longitude from lunar observations, and they replaced octants by the second half of the 18th century. Sextant william bligh sidebar log entries and history the famous or infamous captain william bligh (and exceptional navigator)story is well known Set adrift in april of 1789 from the sailing ship bounty in a 7.01 metre (23 feet)longboat with 18 still loyal sailors he was allowed a compass and a sextant.
The optical instruments called sextants have been used as navigation aids for centuries, especially by seafarers In its simplest form, a sextant consists of an eyepiece and an angular scale called the arc, fitted with an arm to mark degrees
