Sextant facts for kids
A sextant is a special tool used for navigation, which means finding your way around. Sailors and explorers used it to figure out where they were on Earth. It helps them measure angles, like the angle between the horizon (where the sky meets the sea) and an object in the sky, such as the Sun, a star, or a planet.
Contents
What is a Sextant?
A sextant is a handheld instrument that looks a bit like a triangle with a handle. It has mirrors and a small telescope. People use it to measure the height of celestial bodies (like the Sun or stars) above the horizon. This measurement is called the "altitude."
How Does a Sextant Work?
To use a sextant, you look through a small telescope at the horizon. At the same time, you adjust a moving arm with a mirror until the image of a star or the Sun appears to "touch" the horizon in your view. The sextant then shows you the exact angle of that star or Sun above the horizon.
Why is it Called a Sextant?
The name "sextant" comes from the Latin word sextus, which means "one-sixth." This is because the early versions of the instrument could measure angles up to 60 degrees. Sixty degrees is exactly one-sixth of a full circle (360 degrees).
Finding Your Way with a Sextant
By measuring the angle of the Sun at noon, or the angle of specific stars at night, sailors could work out their latitude. Latitude tells you how far north or south you are from the Equator. With a little more math and a very accurate clock, they could also figure out their longitude, which tells you how far east or west you are. This was super important before modern GPS systems existed!
Images for kids
-
U.S. Navy Quartermaster 3rd Class, practices using a sextant as part of a navigation training aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), 2018
-
Sextants can also be used by navigators to measure horizontal angles between objects
.jpg)
See also
In Spanish: Sextante para niños
