Octant
A mahogany-and-ivory Hadley octant on a dark table, with a Nautical Almanac beside it

Hadley's octant, 1731

Bring a named star down to the horizon.

An octant on BOT Chain. Pick one of twenty-four stars, take a sight, and stow it when you want the sky back. Gas only.

Take a sight

Vol. 677 · gas only · paper edition

The noon gazette

Why a public sight

Limb rules

    Who takes a noon

    Ebony, bone and brass octant by Spencer, Browning & Rust, Royal Ontario Museum

    Bring the body down until the horizon sits on the ivory.

    The photograph is a museum octant, not this contract. The limb on chain holds a star index, a time, and a short note.

    Twenty-four names

    Point at a star. The index arm swings on the ivory, and the noon notice writes the name.

        Two sample pages from a Nautical Almanac

        Letters

        Next edition

        Museum octant, Royal Ontario Museum Sisson octant, Putnam Gallery Hadley's reflecting quadrant, 1731 drawing

        Take the next sight

        Take a sight
        Johannes and Elisabetha Hevelius at a brass sextant, 1673 engraving