The National Watch and Clock Museum
The Eighteenth Century Gallery

Sextant, c.1840
Maker Unknown
United States

Octants and sextants were used by navigators and surveyors to help calculate latitude. The instruments also provided a means by which the user could determine local time via the equal altitude method

Donated by the California Academy of Science
1997.10.3

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Last Updated:  October 21, 2005 
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