Quote:Just by observing Jupiter, Saturn and Mars you could find a rough date, and this could be further refined by observing Venus and the Moon. To find the exact sidereal time, you could use the old method of 'lunar distances' which measures the distance between the Moon and various fixed stars.
Within the limits of detection of hand held instruments, aren't the positions of the planets fairly repetitious? I mean, wouldn't it be possible for Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars to be in the same configuration in (hand wave) 2018BC as 2018CE?
Though...wait a minute...finding longitude doesn't care about the year, just time with respect to Greenwich, correct?
(04-01-2018, 07:46 AM)JohnnyYesterday Wrote: If they can't travel very far, why do they need to know their latitude and longitude?
1) Curiosity
2) Possibility of being stranded and needing to find resources for survival
3) Plot*
*After having just watched The Titan on Netflix, apparently plot can be used to excuse numerous sins against viewers' sanity and scientific education
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
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"Everbody's always in favor of saving Hitler's brain, but when you put it in the body of a great white shark, oh, suddenly you've gone too far." -- Professor Farnsworth, Futurama
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"Everbody's always in favor of saving Hitler's brain, but when you put it in the body of a great white shark, oh, suddenly you've gone too far." -- Professor Farnsworth, Futurama