<P> By comparing the positions of the moon and Mars with their anticipated positions, Vespucci was able to crudely deduce his longitude . But this method had several limitations: First, it required the occurrence of a specific astronomical event (in this case, Mars passing through the same right ascension as the moon), and the observer needed to anticipate this event via an astronomical almanac . One needed also to know the precise time, which was difficult to ascertain in foreign lands . Finally, it required a stable viewing platform, rendering the technique useless on the rolling deck of a ship at sea . See Lunar distance (navigation). </P> <P> In 1612 Galileo Galilei demonstrated that with sufficiently accurate knowledge of the orbits of the moons of Jupiter one could use their positions as a universal clock and this would make possible the determination of longitude, but the method he devised was impracticable for navigators on ships because of their instability . In 1714 the British government passed the Longitude Act which offered large financial rewards to the first person to demonstrate a practical method for determining the longitude of a ship at sea . These rewards motivated many to search for a solution . </P> <P> John Harrison, a self - educated English clockmaker, invented the marine chronometer, the key piece in solving the problem of accurately establishing longitude at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel . Though the Board of Longitude rewarded John Harrison for his marine chronometer in 1773, chronometers remained very expensive and the lunar distance method continued to be used for decades . Finally, the combination of the availability of marine chronometers and wireless telegraph time signals put an end to the use of lunars in the 20th century . </P> <P> Unlike latitude, which has the equator as a natural starting position, there is no natural starting position for longitude . Therefore, a reference meridian had to be chosen . It was a popular practice to use a nation's capital as the starting point, but other locations were also used . While British cartographers had long used the Greenwich meridian in London, other references were used elsewhere, including El Hierro, Rome, Copenhagen, Jerusalem, Saint Petersburg, Pisa, Paris, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. In 1884 the International Meridian Conference adopted the Greenwich meridian as the universal Prime Meridian or zero point of longitude . </P>

How many miles in 1 degree of longitude at the equator