Sextant to Arcsecond Converter

A sextant is a unit of angular measurement equal to 1/6 of a full rotation, or 60 degrees. It represents one of six equal sections when a circle is divided into six parts.

The sextant as an angular unit is related to the navigational instrument of the same name, developed in the 18th century. The division of circles into six parts (hexagonal division) has ancient roots in geometry, as 60 degrees represents the angle in an equilateral triangle.

Sextants as angular units are rarely used in modern applications, though the 60-degree angle remains important in crystallography, molecular geometry, and some engineering applications. The term is more commonly associated with the navigational instrument rather than the angular unit itself.

An arcsecond (″) is a unit of angular measurement equal to 1/60 of an arcminute or 1/3600 of a degree. It represents extremely fine angular precision, essential for high-precision measurements.

The arcsecond follows from the continued subdivision of the Babylonian system, where arcminutes were further divided into 60 arcseconds. The term comes from 'pars minuta secunda' meaning 'second small part'. This level of precision became crucial with the development of telescopic astronomy in the 17th century.

Arcseconds are critical in professional astronomy for measuring stellar positions, parallax, and proper motion. They're used in satellite navigation systems, precision surveying, telescope specifications, and astrometry. The Hubble Space Telescope, for example, has angular resolution measured in arcseconds.