Gunter's Quadrant

Gunter's Quadrant
Henry Sutton, London, England, 1657
NQ 31

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Gunter’s Quadrant Henry Sutton, London, England, 1657

The quadrant was the earliest astronomical instrument converted for nautical use. It was used to determine the altitude of the Polestar or sun and, concurrently, the location of the ship in degrees of latitude. Unfortunately, the difficulties of keeping the instrument exactly vertical and preventing the plumb bob from blowing offline on the windy, rolling deck of the ship made its use at sea difficult.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information, e-mail collections@MarinersMuseum.org.

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