Author's Reply to Comments on 'The Celestial Navigation of Christopher Columbus'

摘要

This letter responds to the critique [1] of my article concerning the celestial navigation of Christopher Columbus [2]. Columbus needed only to calibrate his compass Occasionally with elevation angles of two constella- Tions, both ideally situated in latitude and longi- Tude for his two Atlantic crossings. Cassiopeia would Have confirmed his February 3 arrival at the Cape St. Vincent latitude had it not been obscured by the Nearly full moon. So that night he resorted to the More difficult quadrant measurement of Polaris, Coincidentally the only reference to this instru- Ment's use during his return voyage.