The Effect of Air Waves on Astronomical Observations

1906 ◽  
Vol 62 (1610supp) ◽  
pp. 25803-25804
Author(s):  
G. Millochau
Keyword(s):  
Astronomical Observations

Time and Latitude in South Africa

1972 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 27-38
Author(s):  
J. Hers
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Astronomical Determination ◽  
Limited Accuracy ◽  
Better Than

In South Africa the modern outlook towards time may be said to have started in 1948. Both the two major observatories, The Royal Observatory in Cape Town and the Union Observatory (now known as the Republic Observatory) in Johannesburg had, of course, been involved in the astronomical determination of time almost from their inception, and the Johannesburg Observatory has been responsible for the official time of South Africa since 1908. However the pendulum clocks then in use could not be relied on to provide an accuracy better than about 1/10 second, which was of the same order as that of the astronomical observations. It is doubtful if much use was made of even this limited accuracy outside the two observatories, and although there may – occasionally have been a demand for more accurate time, it was certainly not voiced.

The Role of VLBI in the Establishment of Coordinate Systems

1975 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 293-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Zhongolovitch
Keyword(s):  
General Solution ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Rational Approach ◽  
Radio Telescopes ◽  
Coordinate Systems ◽  
Tectonic Plates ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
Optical Instruments ◽  
Fundamental Polyhedron

Considering the future development and general solution of the problem under consideration and also the high precision attainable by astronomical observations, the following procedure may be the most rational approach:1. On the main tectonic plates of the Earth’s crust, powerful movable radio telescopes should be mounted at the same points where standard optical instruments are installed. There should be two stations separated by a distance of about 6 to 8000 kilometers on each plate. Thus, we obtain a fundamental polyhedron embracing the whole Earth with about 10 to 12 apexes, and with its sides represented by VLBI.

Relationship between Faithfulness and Preference of Stars in a Planetarium

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 10402-1-10402-11
Author(s):  
Midori Tanaka ◽  
Takahiko Horiuchi ◽  
Ken’ichi Otani
Keyword(s):  
Light Source ◽  
Preference Rating ◽  
Experimental Procedure ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
Low Luminance ◽  
Projection Pattern ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Star Field

Abstract A planetarium imitates a starry sky with physical and technical limitations using a dome, projector, and light source. It is widely used for entertainment, and astronomy and physics educations. In our previous study, we investigated the evaluation for faithful reproduction of a star field in a planetarium by performing psychometric experiments with 20 observers for plural projection patterns with different reproduction factors (color, luminance, and size of projected stars). In this study, we investigate the relationship between faithfulness and preference of a star field in a planetarium through a psychometric experiment with 47 observers. The experimental procedure followed the previous study. The rating of faithfulness improved for the projection pattern with a smaller star size. For the preference evaluation, the projection pattern with low luminance significantly lowered the preference rating. The results of the experiment indicate that the preferable star reproduction was different between male and female observers, whereas the faithful star reproduction was not significantly different in the evaluations between male and female observers. The male observers sought a faithful star reproduction as the preferred reproduction. In contrast, the female observers did not feel the faithful star reproduction preferable, and evaluated the more brilliant star reproduction as the preferred reproduction. These results were not dependent on the experience in astronomical observations.

AMICA: the NIR/MIR camera for automatic astronomical observations from Dome C, Antarctica

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Dolci ◽  
O. Straniero ◽  
G. Di Rico ◽  
G. Valentini ◽  
A. Riva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Astronomical Observations

scholarly journals Cloud Cover and Aurora Contamination at Dome A in 2017 from KLCAM

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Yang ◽  
Zhaohui Shang ◽  
Keliang Hu ◽  
Yi Hu ◽  
Bin Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Cover ◽  
Emission Lines ◽  
Austral Winter ◽  
Site Testing ◽  
Dome A ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
Auroral Emission ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
Term Monitoring

Abstract Dome A in Antarctica has many characteristics that make it an excellent site for astronomical observations, from the optical to the terahertz. Quantitative site testing is still needed to confirm the site’s properties. In this paper, we present a statistical analysis of cloud cover and aurora contamination from the Kunlun Cloud and Aurora Monitor (KLCAM). KLCAM is an automatic, unattended all-sky camera aiming for long-term monitoring of the usable observing time and optical sky background at Dome A. It was installed at Dome A in January 2017, worked through the austral winter, and collected over 47,000 images over 490 days. A semi-quantitative visual data analysis of cloud cover and auroral contamination was carried out by five individuals. The analysis shows that the night sky was free of clouds for 83 per cent of the time, which ranks Dome A highly in a comparison with other observatory sites. Although aurorae were detected somewhere on an image for nearly 45 per cent of the time, the chance of a point on the sky being affected by an aurora is small. The strongest auroral emission lines can be filtered out with customized filters.

scholarly journals GERBERT OF AURILLAC: ASTRONOMY AND GEOMETRY IN TENTH CENTURY EUROPE

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 467-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
COSTANTINO SIGISMONDI
Keyword(s):  
Rational Approximation ◽  
Equilateral Triangle ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
The North ◽  
Celestial Pole ◽  
Gerbert Of Aurillac

Gerbert of Aurillac was the most prominent personality of the tenth century: astronomer, organ builder and music theoretician, mathematician, philosopher, and finally pope with the name of Silvester II (999–1003). Gerbert introduced firstly the arabic numbers in Europe, invented an abacus for speeding the calculations and found a rational approximation for the equilateral triangle area, in the letter to Adelbold here discussed. Gerbert described a semi-sphere to Constantine of Fleury with built-in sighting tubes, used for astronomical observations. The procedure to identify the star nearest to the North celestial pole is very accurate and still in use in the XII century, when Computatrix was the name of Polaris. For didactical purposes the Polaris would have been precise enough and much less time consuming, but here Gerbert was clearly aligning a precise equatorial mount for a fixed instrument for accurate daytime observations. Through the sighting tubes it was possible to detect equinoxes and solstices by observing the Sun in the corresponding days. The horalogium of Magdeburg was probably a big and fixed-mount nocturlabe, always pointing the star near the celestial pole.

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