Verified by computer simulation of 36,000 times to see if the hypothesis that "Viking was able to sail with crystals even in cloudy weather" is possible

byArtiom P

Pirates who worked long ago when Google Maps were createdA buffetIn the case of cloudy weather, how did you grasp the direction? That is still left as a mystery. Although there is a hypothesis that "you can know the location of the sun by using crystals (ore)", new simulations of "to sail from the Norway to the Greenland using ore and navigate in the cloudy weather" By doing 6000 times, the research result which examined whether it was possible or not was announced.

Sky-polarimetric Viking navigation | Open Science
http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/5/4/172187

Computer simulations show Viking's sunstone to be very accurate
https://phys.org/news/2018-04-simulations-viking-sunstone-accurate.html

Vikings Could Have Used Crystals For Navigation
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a19686216/mythical-viking-sunstone-icelandic-crystal/

In previous studies, we have found that armed fleets and Vikings, which invaded coastal areas of Western Europe during the 250 - year period between 800 and 1050, confirmed the direction by using something like a sundial. But how was the direction found when the weather was bad and the sun was not out? That remains a mystery, the archaeologist Thorkild Ramskou in 1967 named "Sun Stone"Sunrise(Sunstone) to grasp the position of the sun using the? It showed the idea that.

Natural light is mixed with light that vibrates in various directions, but as it passes through crystals etc., the vibration of light becomes regular and the direction changes in a specific direction. thisPolarizationI call it.

SunstonePlagioclaseIt contains one small metal crystal crystal within the crystal and when it transmits light it divides the light ray into two depending on the state of polarizationDouble refractionIt has the property nature.


Previous studies have shown that even when it is cloudy, the direction of the sun stone is changed, and when the brightness of the two divided rays are the same, the face facing up indicates the direction of the sun It was done. Besides the sunstone ore which shows birefringenceCalciteYaCordierite,TourmalineIs there any such stone that Viking used because there are such things? There is also a view that it is.

This is a calcite. Characters on the other side of the stone look double because they cause birefringence.


It was not clear whether the sunstone was actually done by Viking but I did not know how to move from Norway to North America in this way. Therefore, in the newly published research, Dénes Száz and Gábor Horváth of Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary examined whether this idea is actually possible by computer model.

Two researchers who thought that "It is not a proof that cloudy weather is hit by clouds and it does not prove that sunstone is beneficial because it helped in one or two voyages," two researchers from Norway We conducted 36,000 simulations on voyages to Greenland. After inputting the data on the voyage, we simulated the use of multiple kinds of ores at different timings of the day, assuming two timings, the spring equinox and the summer solstice.

Results were different as a result of the simulation as to which ore to use and when the seafarer read the direction of the sun, but in the best scenario, "When you decide the direction of north every 3 hours using cordierite, Even if it is cloudy we can decide the direction with accuracy of 92.2 ~ 100% on both spring equinox and summer solstice ".

Is it really possible to see directions using calcite during 2011? Experimental results have been announced. This research does not reveal that "ore was actually used", but it shows how accurately navigation was done if it was actually used.

Viking's legendary stone 'Sunstone', used for actual voyage 1 French research picture International News: AFPBB News
http://www.afpbb.com/articles/-/2838887