Viking Sunstone

[Howard Brown]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/not-just-the-stuff-of-legend-famed-viking-sunstone-did-exist-believe-scientists-8521522.html

The coolest, best peeps of them all !!
Hail Odin !

[Sanfran]

Hail Howard,

I take it you saw the first episode of Vikings on History Channel?

[Paul Kearney A.K.A. NEMO]

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?

[Howard Brown]

I take it you saw the first episode of Vikings on History Channel?

Holy Odin, I was innit, San !

I led the plunder of some Christian-dog village in Upper Linfordania

[Pat Dunn]

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!

[Gary Barnett]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...s-8521522.html

The coolest, best peeps of them all !!
Hail Odin !

'ark at old Howard Hardrada.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Hardrada