Brass Sextants
Brass sextants are widely used in navigation as well as decorative items. Sextant is a very important instrument for navigating at sea that can also be used in astronomy. It is used to measure the angle between two far away objects. Most often these objects are the sun and the horizon, or the pole star and the horizon. Sometimes the angle between the horizon and stars or the moon can also be measured with a sextant. Sextants are usually made of metals, plastic and wood. Brass ia a very popular material used in the making of sextants. Brass sextants are polished to a high-luster finish.
Decorative brass sextants make a unique gift for nautical buffs. Nautical brass sextants generally have a wide frame, fully adjustable mirror mounts, a turned hardwood handle and heavy filter mounts. These have a built-in large and powerful magnifier that can be swung into position to assist in reading the vernier scale. The telescope has a focusing adjustment and provides a clear image. The half-silvered mirror allows viewing the horizon and the celestial object simultaneously and adjusting the fine tuning control causes these two images to converge and determine the angle between the celestial object and the horizon.
Brass sextants are given different finishes to give them shine and durability. Beside being used in navigation, today, antique brass sextants are decorative pieces. The finely made brass sextant makes for a wonderful display piece. It acts as a nautical momento that looks great on desk, mantel or in your favorite display case.
