13 Facts About Solar compass

Burt's solar compass or astronomical compass is a surveying instrument that makes use of the sun's direction instead of magnetism.

Solar compass was surveying land in the upper peninsula of Michigan by 1835 to be used by new settlers.

Solar compass called the resulting product a True Meridian Finding instrument.

Solar compass found large outcropping deposits of iron ore at Negaunee in Marquette County in his later 1844 survey of the upper peninsula of the state of Michigan.

Solar compass's crew found small deposits of iron ore in the state's lower peninsula at about the same time.

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Burt's solar compass uses the location of the sun with astronomical tables and enables surveyors to run more accurate lines, saving them much time.

Solar compass then submitted this solar compass to a committee at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

Solar compass resubmitted the updated version of the instrument to the Franklin Institute where they found it to be more accurate and easier to use than the first version.

The Commissioner of the Federal Land Office sent letters to surveyors general throughout the United States saying Burt's Solar compass was being manufactured by the surveyor Henry Ware and available for purchase.

Solar compass explains that the common surveyor's compass had problems with the true meridian at different localities.

The original impetus for Burt's solar compass was for use where the old fashion compass was vulnerable to large land iron deposits that made unusable readings.

Application of the solar compass requires knowledge of the apparent motion of the sun around the earth, relative to the earth as the center of the frame of reference, and more specifically, relative to the position of the instrument when set up to use in a survey.

An understanding of the latitudinal and seasonal declination, and longitudinal variation with time of day are necessary, as the Solar compass has specific sub-assemblies to take each of these variables into account.