Sun Moon

Using a compass to find azimuth and altitude of the sun/moon?

I've seen a few posts about this subject, but I've yet to find anything that instructs you on how to actually use a compass to find the azimuth and altitude of objects in the sky.

I need to be able to find the altitude and azimuth of the moon every night, as well as the azimuth of the sun when it is setting. How do I use a magnetic compass to do this?

Thanks!

You can get the azimuth (compass bearing/direction) using the compass normally, but without an clinometer feature in your compass, you'd be hard pressed to work out the angle of inclination of the moon or sun with reference to the horizon.

If you don't know how to use a compass at all, you'll be better off searching on that first - it would be a waste to try and duplicate that info here. Try some of the links below.

For inclination, if your compass doesn't have a clinometer, you can make your own. Here's one site to give you some pointers. (http://www.rondexter.com/professional/sun/home-made_clinometer.htm) Work from this and I'm sure you can come up with something.