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Equatorial Sextant
From the collection of National Museum of American History. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Patent model for William Austin Burt, new equatorial sextant, U.S. Patent 16,002 (1856). This instrument could apparently be used to take azimuths, altitude, and time with one observation, and thus enable one to easily obtain the position and bearing of a ship at sea. It was ingenious, but never found much of a market. Burt is better remembered for the solar compass that he introduced in the 1830s.
National Museum of American History’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineEquatorial Sextant. 1856. Burt, William A.. National Museum of American History. CC0.
