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Bubble Circle Sextant
The sextant has a circular plastic frame with a clear plastic sighting circle carrying two white plastic folding sights and black sighting lines on the front. The back of the frame holds a bubble level and a folding mirror in a plastic housing.
The instrument has four quadrantal plastic scales from 0° to 90° by 1°, and no vernier.
The sextant is contained in a fitted plastic wallet containing a pencil, a transparent plastic 6 inch ruler (157 mm), a pencil marked ‘Made in U.S.A. Dixon’, a booklet titled ‘Pocket Bubble Sextant: Instructions for use in finding latitude and longitude’, published by the Nautical Almanac Office, U.S. Naval Observatory, 1 May 1946 and two paper circular protractors (published by Eastern Science Supply Co, Boston, Mass.)
These plastic sextants were made for the US Bureau of Aeronautics in the mid-1940s, probably for emergency use.
The instrument has four quadrantal plastic scales from 0° to 90° by 1°, and no vernier.
The sextant is contained in a fitted plastic wallet containing a pencil, a transparent plastic 6 inch ruler (157 mm), a pencil marked ‘Made in U.S.A. Dixon’, a booklet titled ‘Pocket Bubble Sextant: Instructions for use in finding latitude and longitude’, published by the Nautical Almanac Office, U.S. Naval Observatory, 1 May 1946 and two paper circular protractors (published by Eastern Science Supply Co, Boston, Mass.)
These plastic sextants were made for the US Bureau of Aeronautics in the mid-1940s, probably for emergency use.
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Object Details
| ID: | ZBA0747 |
|---|---|
| Collection: | Astronomical and navigational instruments |
| Type: | Pocket bubble sextant |
| Display location: | Not on display |
| Creator: | G. Felsenthal & Sons |
| Date made: | ca. 1946 |
| Credit: | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London |
| Measurements: | Overall: 30 mm; Diameter: 116 mm |
| Parts: |
Bubble Circle Sextant
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