> I'd like to draw your attention to a star finder for sale on the
> Internet auction house eBay. See
> <http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1077995691>
>
> I own one of these, though I have to confess I haven't looked after it
> well and it is now missing some of the transparent overlays :-(
>
> I find it interesting that aircrew were issued with astrolabes, for
> that's what it is, during the Second World War. Strictly, perhaps, it
> isn't an astrolabe in that it has no alidade and no scales on the
> reverse, and the projection isn't stereographic. The instructions show
> how you can identify stars if you select and set the overlay
> corresponding to your Dead Reckoning (calculated/assumed) position. They
> don't tell you how to improve on dead reckoning by observing the stars'
> actual positions, but that must surely have been the intent.
>
> Chris Lusby Taylor
> 51.3N, 1.4W
These are still available new. For example:
http://www.celestaire.com/catalog/products/3501.html
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