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Cross-staff
Item Details
Manufactured: 1804
Description:
Ebony cross-staff with reproduction pearwood vanes and reproduction ivory horizon vane and brass aperture disc.
Ebony cross-staff with reproduction pearwood vanes and reproduction ivory horizon vane and brass aperture disc.
Item History:
A celestial navigation instrument used to measure the altitude of celestial bodies. Developed in Europe in the 1300s, it allowed navigators to measure angles between 10º and 90º by aligning celestial bodies with the horizon. Usage Method: The staff was held up to the eye with one hand while the vane... was held up with the other. The vane was moved along the staff until the sun or star was sighted... Limitations: Challenging to use, especially for large angle measurements, and potentially dangerous when measuring sun angles.
A celestial navigation instrument used to measure the altitude of celestial bodies. Developed in Europe in the 1300s, it allowed navigators to measure angles between 10º and 90º by aligning celestial bodies with the horizon. Usage Method: The staff was held up to the eye with one hand while the vane... was held up with the other. The vane was moved along the staff until the sun or star was sighted... Limitations: Challenging to use, especially for large angle measurements, and potentially dangerous when measuring sun angles.
Location/Ownership: The Mariners' Museum
Submission Author: Jeanne Willoz-Egnor, The Mariners' Museum
ION Museum
Advancing Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT)
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