Octant (instrument)
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Octant is a measuring instrument similar to a sextant. Its scale is 1/8 of a circle (45°) rather than the sextant's 1/6.
In 1767 the first edition of the Nautical Almanac tabulated lunar distances, enabling navigators to find the current time from the angle between the sun and the moon. This angle is sometimes larger than 90°, and thus not possible to measure with an octant.
See also: Octant.
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