Re: Observing Polaris

On 25 May, 13:02, "Mike Dworetsky" <platinum...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
"Paul.Lee.1...@xxxxxxxxx" <Paul.Lee.1...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:46df71c5-b346-4481-b94c-d9527aa962d9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi,
When is the best time to observe Polaris (obviously from the northern
hemisphere!): is it between the periods of civil, nautical or
astronomical twilight?

Many thanks!

Paul

Polaris is second magnitude, so it ought to be visible to the unaided eye
around the start of nautical twilight even thought the sky is fairly bright.
(I avoid terms like "n***d eye" on the 'Net).

Nautical twilight (aside from its technical definition) is when the sky is
dark enough to see stars but bright enough to see the horizon so that a
sextant can be used to measure their elevation angles.

--
Mike Dworetsky

(Remove pants sp*mbl*ck to reply)

Thanks! I meant to say that this was for navigational purposes, so
being able to see the star
and the horizon is essential. I'm glad you picked up on this!
.

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