Astro Compass
name: label: maker
content: Sperti, Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: At high latitudes where magnetic variation can be erratic and the angle of magnetic dip can be steep, magnetic compasses are essentially useless. This instrument, on the other hand, indicates true north when pointed at a known star. It was made for military use during World War II, and surplussed soon thereafter.
label: Description
content: The inscription reads "ASTRO-COMPASS MK II MANUFACTURER'S ASSEMBLY PART NO. D500 CONTRACT NO. W535-AC 36492 SPERTI, INC. CINCINNATI, OHIO, USA."
label: Description
content: The firm was formed to capitalize on the discoveries of the Institutum Divi Thomas, under the direction of Dr. George Sperti Sperti (1900-1991), an Italian-American inventor.
label: Description
content: Ref: “Scientific Research Only Limit to Sperti Progress; Products Range From Ultraviolet Lamps to Feeds,” The Cincinnati Inquirer (Sept. 3, 1945), p. 18.
label: Description
content: Sperti, Inc., <i>Instructions for Use of the Astro Compass MK. II</i> (Cincinnati, n.d.).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Ohio, Cincinnati
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Navigation
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Conrad S. Ham
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1983.0548.09
label: catalog number
content: 1983.0548.09
label: accession number
content: 1983.0548
objectType: label: Object Name
content: astro compass
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 15 1/2 in; 39.37 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 10 in x 5 in x 6 in; 25.4 cm x 12.7 cm x 15.24 cm