Tony,
I well recall working in the Vestfold Hills (lat 68o S) in Antarctica where
the variation was 78oW. Took a long while to get used to this high value. Of
course, all we had to do was walk roughly in the right direction , give or
take 10o, and we always got to our destinations OK.
It's funny the cues we use in navigation. having been brought up in Sydney
with the coast to the east and the mountains to the west, I find that Perth,
with the ocean to the west and the hills to the east, a very disorienting
place.
My only regret about the 15 months I spent in Antarctica is that I wasn't as
interested in dialling in 1980 as I am now. We had a lot of overcast days,
including one interminable 6 week stretch, but the glorious clear days made
up for them. Would have been fun playing with the sun at that latitude,
especially as we were below the Antarctic Circle.
Cheers, John
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message -----
From: "tony moss" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Sundial Mail List" <sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de>
Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2004 10:51 PM
Subject: Magnetic variation.
Fellow Shadow Watchers,
Next week I will be setting off for Longyearbyen on
Spitsbergen in the Svalbard group of islands 500 miles north of Tromso to
install their new 24 hour stainless steel sundial. As any diallist is
painfully aware the most probable event for dial installation is an obscured
sun all day so for the purposes of the inauguration ceremony and photoshoot
we may be forced to do the diallistically unspeakable viz. a temporary
magnetic alignment so that at least it looks OK -ish.
Having consulted various geomagnetic websites for that area, like Omar
Khayyam, I "Came out by the same Door as in I went" because the magnetic
map at 78° 12' North 15° 40' is exceedingly complex.
Can anyone tell me the likely current magnetic variation at those
coordinates please?
Thanks in anticipation.
Tony Moss
P.S. I bought my snow boots yesterday and overnight we had a full six
inches of white stuff in which to try them out so I hope the same Good Luck
continues.
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