What navigational tools made exploration possible?
Navigational tools assisted the European explorers in finding their way across the ocean. Navigational tools are used to be able to travel around without getting lost. There are lots of navigational instruments that were used throughout history that have helped explorers in finding their way around the world. Navigational tools such as the astrolabe, quadrant, cross staff, back staff, compass and maps were used to navigate.
AstrolabeThe Astrolabe is one of the oldest of all altitude measuring devices. 'Astrolabe' comes from Greek meaning "to take a star", it is used to show how the sky looks at a specific place at a given time, it enabled sailors to determine latitude more accurately. The astrolabe is not a predominantly accurate tool at sea because of the complexity in maintaining it steady in a rocking ship and high winds.
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Cross-staffThe cross-staff is used to measure the vessels latitude by measuring the altitude of Polaris (the north star). It is constructed with a perpendicular vane that slides back and forth and, upon it there are marked graduated measures calculated by trigonometry. The "cross-staff" gets it's named from it's cruciform shape (cross shape).
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Back-staffThe back-staff was invented by John Davis in 1590 and it allowed the navigator to stand back from the sun and work with the shadows. It was a great invention for one of the problems with the cross-staff was that you have to look at the sun and this led to blindness and damage to the navigator's eyes but, the back-staff worked with the shadows of the sun which helped obtain altitude.
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Magnetic CompassThe compass helped indicate North, South, East and West. It was used to navigate them in the right direction. The direction in which the compass pointed to, related to the Earth's magnetic poles. the compass improved the safety and efficiency of travelling, especially by sea.
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