Fernando Cabral wrote: > Hi > > Some of the members of this list will remember that two years ago I mentioned > I was going to > the Sahara Desert. I was to run the > Marathon des Sables, a 236-km race in the Morocco.
<snip> > Now I am returning. I want to run that race again. <snip> > This time I'll do it a little different. After the race, instead of coming > back to Brazil > I'll visit the North Pole. From Morocco to Moscow, Siberia and... North Pole. > I expect to be > there from the 21st to the 28th of April. > > Maybe I'll take with me a especially made sundial (aha, you though this had > nothing to do > with sundials?). Any suggestions? > > - fernando > Fernando, you really make the most of life, don't you! Have a wonderful time. During the day you will want a portable universal sundial - a foldable equatorial ring dial would seem ideal. The smallest I have seen are sold at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford - about 25mm diameter. I would suggest you make one a bit bigger and mark the latitudes of Morocco, Moscow and, of course, the North Pole on it for ease of setting. At the North Pole it will confirm the date and show lines of longitude if you know the time, or vice versa. During the night I suggest you should use a nocturnal. They are universal as far as latitude is concerned and tell you local mean time if you know your longitude. No equation of time correction needed! If you had space, I would suggest you also take an astrolabe, but they are rather bulky. Keep us informed. Chris Lusby Taylor 51.4N 1.3W -
