Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-07-21
OFFICERS Study
STARSFOR SAFETY
Naval Observatory Summer
School Promotes Sc
curitY at Sea.

CURLY d. SCds
Star gazing in the daytime is part
of the curriculum Of Washington
Summer school which begins the
fourth week Of its 1885 session to-
morrow.
The school has been going, OF and
on, for several years, and lasts nine
weeks each Summer. 1t has only
three pupils, who are not really pupils
ut all, because there is no regular in
structor. Except for occasional as
sistance, the students teach them
selves.
The Summer school Is In session at
the Naval Observatory, and is part
Of a highly technical instruction
course for officers who eventually will
be assigned to Navy survey ships. Just
how highly technical Is shown by
some items from the curricula: de-
termine the latitude of q station and
the azimuth Of mark by observation
of Polaris at any hour angle, deter
mine the value Of a division Of the
stride level and latitude level. deter
mine the latitude Of station by Tai
COTS method"
Work Aids Maritime Safety.
Reduced to the least common de-
nominator, the work trains men for
important contributions to maritime
safety. When they have been grad
uated," the young naval officers will
be ready to help in the preparation Of
charts and manuals of directions in
valuable to the worlds navies and
commercial fleets.
Many Of the charts currently in use
by ships pilots are centuries old
Some date back TO the days Of the
Elizabethan buccaneers, the con-
quistadors Of Imperial Spain and the
clipper era Of Yankee merchant trad
ing. Naturally these do not contain
up-to-the-minute information on
maritime short cuts, changes in the
ocean floor and so forth. Even the
newer charts are constantly being out
dated because of subterranean shak-
ings Of the cradle Of the deep. YES
sells frequently run into trouble in
places where maps say they shouldn't
Gases were cited by the student on
GERS of battleships going aground
| when according to its chart there
should have been 1000 fathoms under
the keel.
Charts Kept In Line.
To keen charts in line with the
latest information both as to hidden
dangers and shortest and most navi-
gable routes is the object Of the
studies undertaken each year at the
Naval Observatory Summer School.
Directories say the observatory ia
at Massachusetts avenue and Thirty.
fourth street, but the three Summer
students know the exact location Of
their "class rooms" in latitude anc
longitude to the degree, minute ant
second. They are becoming so &C
curate at determining locations thai
when they join a survey ship thou.
sands of miles out in some vast ocear
they will be able to make calculations
which will quickly determine theil
| position.
Most o. the work Of the three stu.
dents, junior grade heutenants, is witt
an ordinary engineers or surveyor
transit through which they can ant
do sight stars in connection Will
learning how to obtain a precise To-
cation. George Washington, himself
an expert surveyor, used to take lane
observations overhead. But land sur
veyors don't 20 in for it nowadays, thu
students explained, the reason being
| that the practice has fallen into such
disuse that few know how to do 1t
Star Sights Simpler.
Because of the rapid movement o.
the sun. star sights are simpler o.
accomplishment and more accurate
1t was explained. The students OTTER
shoot" Venus and Sirius in broad
daylight with results more satisfactor!
than are achieved by night.
The little group Of calculators alst
works with magnetic and gyro com
passes. A false sun" has been erected
in an observatory laboratory and tn
trick is to find 1t with q huge mag
netic compass about 10 feet away
The "sun" consists Of glass disk
framed In brass and mounted on
shelf near the rooms ceiling. A tin!
circular area in the upper part Il
lighted by electricity supplied by
| small motor
Information which goes into tn
making Of charts prepared by tn
United States photographic once. Il
which the work at the Naval Observa
tory contributes, is, it may be sur
prising to learn, interchanged amonI
naval powers. When American
mariners md q hidden reef or I
short cut the discoveries are trans
mitted to the Japanese, the British
and other nations, which in turn Civ
similar information to the Unitet
States.