The primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of celestial navigation Sextant is one of the oldest navigation instruments used by mariners, its called sextant because its arc is 1/6th of a circle i.e The estimation of this angle, the altitude, is known as sighting or shooting the object, or taking a sight
Sextant
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).
Sextant, instrument for determining the angle between the horizon and a celestial body such as the sun, the moon, or a star, used in celestial navigation to determine latitude and longitude.
A sextant is a navigation instrument used to measure the angles between celestial bodies and the horizon It works by aligning the index mirror with the celestial body and reflecting its image onto the horizon mirror. A sextant is an old navigational tool that measures elevation using angular distances You can use a sextant to determine the altitude in the sky of the sun, moon, or other celestial bodies relative to the horizon
You can then use that. A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument used to measure altitude or the angle between any two visible objects
