On 14 March at 1845 ZT, you take a sextant observation of Polaris. Your DR position is LAT 29°10' N, LONG 154°30' W, and your sextant reads 29°53.5'. Your chronometer reads 04h 42m 36s, and the chronometer error is 02m 24s slow. Your height of eye is 24 feet, and the index error is 1.3' off the arc. Determine the latitude by Polaris.

Question

Accepted Answer

Option A: 29°21.3'N. Latitude by Polaris is found using the formula: Lat = Ho - p + a0 + a1 + a2, where corrections from the Nautical Almanac are applied to the corrected sextant altitude. Accounting for index error and height of eye yields a precise latitude of 29°21.3'N.