[time-nuts] Derivation of time from celestial sight

[Brent]

My understanding (and I could be wrong) is that one could derive 'stellar'
time from a start sight/fix on polaris or another well tracked celestial
object.  I was once told that early editions of Bowditch provided the
process (for the moon I was told) although one of the relatively old
edition's that I have doesn't provide it.

Some theodolite manufacturers provided attachments to aid the process (for
the high zenith where a theodolite experiences reduced accuracy), and those
attachments were dated and calibrated for their year of manufacture and
came with tables for use in future years.

That's about all I know or can find on the subject.  Can anyone here point
me to any published literature?  Anyone have experience trying?  Any idea
what type of accuracy can be expected?

Got some new toys coming and need something to do with them....

Brent