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Pub 249 - v2 and v3 Sight reduction tables (spiral bound with white and blue spine tapes) for sun, moon, and planets, and any star with declination less than 30°, north or south. The answers are given to the nearest whole minute, which implies a precision of 0.5'. This precision limit, however, will rarely if ever place a limitation on the practical accuracy of a celestial fix. A sharp pencil is more important. Most sailors who rely on celestial navigation find this set of tables to be the best choice for sight reduction, or the best back-up to a calculator. Volume 2 covers north or south latitudes of 0° to 40°, Volume 3 covers 39° to 89°. Official governement hard copy editions sell for about $47 per volume (about 40° of Latitude per volume), commercial copies in paperback (slightly reduced in size) cost about $20 per volume. Note that these do not go out of date. If you find some in a used bookstore or swap meet for a good price, they will do the job just fine. See Sight Reduction and Sight Reduction Tables.

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