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ARBALETE JACOB [1 record]

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Record 1 2004-08-05

English

Subject field(s)
  • Marine and River Navigation Aids
  • River and Sea Navigation
DEF

An instrument once used at sea for taking the altitudes of celestial bodies, especially of the sun.

CONT

Along with revolutions in the design, size, and rigging of ships came improvements in navigational equipment, notably the cross-staff, a 16th-century device that virtually replaced the astrolabe as a means of finding the altitude of a star or the sun and therefore the latitude of the ship.

OBS

Plural: cross-staffs, cross-staves.

French

Domaine(s)
  • Aides à la navigation fluviale et maritime
  • Navigation fluviale et maritime
DEF

Instrument ancien servant à mesurer la hauteur des astres ou du soleil sur l'horizon.

CONT

D'origine arabe, l'arbalète de Jacob fut, avec l'anneau astronomique, un des premiers instruments inventés pour déterminer la latitude et faire le point en mer. Elle était utilisée à la fin de XVème siècle et pendant les grandes découvertes et ne fut abandonnée qu'au XVIIIème siècle. Perfectionnée par l'adjonction de viseurs et d'arcs gradués, elle a conduit au quartier de Davis d'où dérivent l'octant et le sextant.

Spanish

Campo(s) temático(s)
  • Ayuda a la navegación marítima y fluvial
  • Navegación fluvial y marítima
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