[00] BOOT
UTC--:--:--
SOLAR_NOON_AT---°---'---"
EPOCH_OFFSET+0000s

LONGITUDE

[QUEST] open ticket · est. 1714 · resolved 1759 · dur: 45y 0m
GMT_OBSERVATORY51°28'40"N · 00°00'00"
LOCAL_FRAMEPENDING_SCAN
LINK_STATUSPHOSPHOR_ACTIVE
SCAN_RATE60Hz / 4px-stride
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QUEST
[01] PROBLEM_LOG
STATUS: UNSOLVED // 1707-1714
YEARVESSELLOSTLOCUS
1690HMS_COR_BANK0294BARFLEUR
1691COR_HARWICH0190PLYM_APPRCH
1707HMS_ASSOCIATION1647ISLES_SCILLY
1707HMS_ROMNEY0397ISLES_SCILLY
1707HMS_EAGLE0402ISLES_SCILLY
1711FR_FLEET_AUX0890ST_LAWRENCE
1714SUBTOTAL4820+UNCHARTED
// ISSUE_DESCRIPTION

For two centuries, captains crossing oceans could fix their LATITUDE by the angle of the sun at noon. The stars wrote it in the sky. LONGITUDE — the east-west position upon the spinning Earth — refused to be read.

Without a reliable longitude, navigators dead-reckoned by guesswork. Ships missed islands by hundreds of nautical miles. Fleets ran aground on charted rocks they could not place. The sea, indifferent, kept the count.

// ROOT_CAUSE: longitude is a function of TIME, and no clock yet built could keep accurate time on a rolling, wet, temperature-shifting deck.

[02] PRIZE_TICKET
STATUS: IN_PROGRESS // 1714-1759
TICKET #1714-LONG
PRIORITY: NATIONAL
BOUNTY: £20,000
FILED_BYPARLIAMENT_OF_GB
REWARD_GBP_171420,000 (~ £3.6M today)
SPEC_TOLERANCE± 0.5° longitude / 60d voyage
REVIEWERSBOARD_OF_LONGITUDE
CANDIDATE_PATHSA: lunar_distance · B: jovian_moons · C: marine_chronometer
BLOCKINGno clock survives sea conditions
ASSIGNEEJOHN_HARRISON @ Barrow_upon_Humber
RESOLUTION_PROGRESS
H1 / 1735 H2 / 1741 H3 / 1759 H4 / 1761
[03] H4_TELEMETRY
STATUS: VERIFIED // 1761
// SPECIFICATION
DESIGNERJ.HARRISON
YEAR_COMPLETED1761
DIAMETER132 mm
MASS1.45 kg
ESCAPEMENTverge w/ remontoire
JEWELED_BEARINGSdiamond + ruby palettes
SEA_TRIAL_1PORTSMOUTH → KINGSTON / 81d
DRIFT_OBSERVED5.1 s total
SPEC_RESULTPASSED · 0.02 s/d
// ERROR_DRIFT · PORTSMOUTH → KINGSTON · 81d
[04] WORLD_GRID // LIVE
STATUS: TRACKING // SOLAR_NOON
180°W120°W60°W0°60°E120°E180°E
NOON
GRN
CPT
TYO
LIM
SYD
+60+300-30-60
SOLAR_NOON_LON--°--'--"
UPDATE_RATE60 fps / requestAnimationFrame
SOURCE_CLOCKbrowser.UTC()
[05] RESOLUTION
STATUS: RESOLVED  //  1759
closed_by: J.HARRISON · accepted: BOARD_OF_LONGITUDE · prize_paid: 1773
every meridian on Earth has been measured against the same clock since.
EOF · LONGITUDE.QUEST // rendered at --:--:-- UTC