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Chapter 4 Celestial Navigation

This chapter discusses celestial navigation concepts. It explains that the sun's hourly rate of change is irregular due to the earth's elliptical orbit and the inclination of the ecliptic. It defines the equation of time as the difference between mean solar time and apparent solar time, which accounts for these irregularities and never exceeds 16 minutes. It provides the mathematical expression for the equation of time and explains how to calculate it. It also defines GMT, LMT, and their relationship to longitude, noting that the difference in time between two locations equals the difference in their longitudes.

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RobTorrenuevaSumilang
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60 views24 pages

Chapter 4 Celestial Navigation

This chapter discusses celestial navigation concepts. It explains that the sun's hourly rate of change is irregular due to the earth's elliptical orbit and the inclination of the ecliptic. It defines the equation of time as the difference between mean solar time and apparent solar time, which accounts for these irregularities and never exceeds 16 minutes. It provides the mathematical expression for the equation of time and explains how to calculate it. It also defines GMT, LMT, and their relationship to longitude, noting that the difference in time between two locations equals the difference in their longitudes.

Uploaded by

RobTorrenuevaSumilang
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 4; Celestial Navigation

Time
Objectives

 Explain the reasons for the sun’s irregular rate


of change of Hour Angle

 Define the Equation of time and its


components

 Define GMT, LMT, and its relation to


longitude
Sun’s irregular rate of change
in Hour Angle
Sun’s irregular rate of change in Hour
Angle
 Background:
Both time and hour angle are a measure of
the phase of rotation of the earth, since both
indicate the angular distance of a celestial
reference point west of a terrestrial reference
meridian.
 Local Hour angle seems to be irregular
because of these two reasons:
 The speed of the Earth on its orbit is not
uniform because the orbit is an ellipse; not a
circle.

 The angular speed of the sun around the


Earth varies because of the inclination of the
ecliptic to the equinoctial.
The Equation of Time
Including its components
What is Equation of time?

Equation is….

statement of an equality between two


expressions, used in almost all branches of
pure and applied mathematics and in the
physical, biological, and social sciences.
What is Equation of time?

Time is…

conscious experience of duration, the period


during which an action or event occurs. Time
is also a dimension representing a succession
of such actions or events.
Therefore:

 Mean solar time, or mean time as it is


commonly called, is sometimes ahead of and
sometimes behind apparent solar time. This
difference, which never exceeds about 16.4
minutes, is called the equation of time.
 The sign of the equation of time is positive if
the time of sun’s meridian passage is earlier
than 1200 and negative if later than 1200.

Therefore:
 Apparent Time = Mean Time – (equation of
time).
The Equation

 The mathematical expression of the equation


of time can be written as:
Where it means as:

 where Δt = ts − t is the time difference


between solar time ts (essentially time
measured by a sundial) and mean solar time t
(essentially time measured by a mechanical
clock). The various quantities appearing on
the right are the following:
 M is the Sun's mean anomaly,
 λp = 4.9358 = 282.8° is the angle from the vernal
equinox to the periapsis in the plane of the ecliptic,
 α is the Sun's right ascension (which depends on M),
 ωE = 1 rev/day = 0.0013889π min −1 is the Earth's axial
rotation rate (day is a mean solar day) — most
astronomers do not include this quantity, they write
instead Δt = M + λp − α, because they regard these
angles and time as instances of the same
dimensional quantity that are related by conversion
factors such as; 2π radian = 360° = 1 day = 24 hour.
In order to calculate α(M) needed in the
equation of time for Δt above, three
additional angles are required; they are:

 E the Sun's eccentric anomaly,


 ν the Sun's true anomaly, and
 λ = ν+λp the angle from the vernal equinox to
the Sun in the plane of the ecliptic.
 The navigator most often deals with the
equation of time when determining the time of
upper meridian passage of the sun. The sun
transits the observer’s upper meridian at local
apparent noon. Were it not for the difference in
rate between the mean and apparent sun, the
sun would be on the observer’s meridian when
the mean sun indicated 1200 local time. The
apparent solar time of upper meridian passage,
however, is offset from exactly 1200 mean solar
time. This time difference, the equation of time
at meridian transit, is listed on the right hand
daily pages of the Nautical Almanac.
GMT, LMT and its Relation to
Longitude
GMT

 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is a term


originally referring to mean solar time at
the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It
is the same as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
and when this is viewed as a time zone the name
Greenwich Mean Time is especially used by
bodies connected with the United Kingdom,
such as the BBC World Service, the Royal Navy,
the Met Office and others.
Time Zones GMT
LMT

 Local Mean Time (LMT) is the hour angle of


the mean sun plus 12 hours with respect to
the observers meridian.

 Mean sun is an imaginary sun that moves


uniformly in the celestial equator and takes
the same time to complete a circuit as the
real Sun takes in the ecliptic.
The Longitude and Time

 Therefore, places east of an observer have


later time, and those west have earlier time,
and the difference is exactly equal to the
difference in longitude, expressed in time
units. The difference in time between two
places is equal to the difference of longitude
between their meridians, expressed in time
units instead of arc.
GMT, LMT and Longitude

Note:
Longitude can be measured to the east or the west
from Greenwich. Many astronomical applications
have taken longitude as increasing (positive) to the
west. On the other hand, the IAU in 1982 defined
longitude as positive measured east of Greenwich
and negative measured to the west. It is therefore
important to be certain of the convention used when
supplying longitude to another. If possible, state
longitude in the form "82.5° west" or "15° east".
Note:

 L = LMT - GMT where LMT is Local Mean Time


and L is longitude measured in hours.
Thank You!
Members:
Rastica, Jan Mark
Alvior, Romel
Sumilang, Roberto T.
Ignacio, Ivanie
Segualan, Joseph Kent
Martin, Michael Angelo

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