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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 January 2010
The special features of polar navigation are examined with a view to the design of tables for astronomical navigation in polar regions. The use of long intercepts and curved position lines is thoroughly investigated. It is shown that considerable economy of presentation can be achieved; as an example, a one-page table covering all bodies and both polar caps is given. Making the fullest use of polar astronomy, samples are given of permanent tables for the Sun and stars independent of the Air Almana.
The following critical review of tabular methods for astronomical polar navigation was written originally as a comment on a proposal to extend the Astronomical Navigation Tables (at present limited to latitudes between S. 79° and N. 79°) to the poles. Although it has been slightly amended, it has not been entirely recast and it therefore still retains some of the ‘thinking on paper’ of the original version. So far as is known the tables proposed are new, but there is clearly no great originality involved.