I always imagined a Sunstone was more spherical and the light passed through it, like the pattern of light passing through a crystal ball onto paper it is resting on, not that you looked through it like a cylindrical lens, rotated it and, having previously "calibrated it", that you can tell in which direction the light source is
Wouldn't it work better if you held it to the eye and scanned the horizon looking for the brightest spot, magnified by the internal refraction of the crystal?
Originally posted by Paul Kearney A.K.A. NEMOView Post
That's interesting
I always imagined a Sunstone was more spherical and the light passed through it, like the pattern of light passing through a crystal ball onto paper it is resting on, not that you looked through it like a cylindrical lens, rotated it and, having previously "calibrated it", that you can tell in which direction the light source is
Wouldn't it work better if you held it to the eye and scanned the horizon looking for the brightest spot, magnified by the internal refraction of the crystal?
Or am I misreading the description?
The television program "Expedition Unknown" with archaelogist-adventurer-host Josh Gates did an episode on the Viking Sunstone in which they first recreated one, then took it aboard a replica longship and tested it at sea.
As I recall, the Sunstone was used in conjunction with a second device, a flat piece of wood on which the shadow was cast.
I recommend watching this episode if you remain interested in how the Sunstone worked. Be forewarned: it involves Viking re-enactors in furry costumes!
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