The history of Celestial Navigation: Rise of the Royal Observatory and Nautical Almanacs

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Richard Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Celestial Navigation ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
History Of

scholarly journals The Role of the IAU Gleaned From Oral Histories of Individuals Involved in Astronomy in South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (S349) ◽  
pp. 240-247
Author(s):  
Lerothodi L. Leeuw ◽  
Jarita Holbrook
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Oral Histories ◽  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
Cape Of Good Hope ◽  
International Astronomical ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
British Colony ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), formerly known as the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, will be 200 years old in 2020. Also, South Africa (SA), formerly a British colony known as the Cape of Good Hope, will celebrate her 100-year anniversary as an International Astronomical Union (IAU) member in 2020, following the IAU centenary in 2019 that this IAU Symposium 349 celebrates. In light of all this, particularly in anticipation of the 200-year anniversary of SAAO in 2020, the SA National Research Foundation (NRF) has developed a Roadmap for the History of Astronomy in South Africa. As part of this we are conducting an oral history of astronomers to complement the historical celebrations of the institutions and science relating to astronomy in SA, supported by the SA NRF. Primarily drawing on literature and setting the scene for this work, here we present a snippet of the on-going oral histories, to glean the role of the IAU in astronomy in South Africa and show the potential of the oral histories to inform and complement written history.

Comparison of magnetic disturbances recorded by the self-registering magnetometers at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, with magnetic disturbances deduced from the corresponding terrestrial galvanic currents recorded by the self-registering galvanometers of the Royal Observatory

1868 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 249-251
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Plane Mirror ◽  
Clock Time ◽  
Water Pipes ◽  
Charles V ◽  
Railway Company ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Magnetic Disturbances

The author, after adverting to the origin of this branch of science, as commencing (with himself) in communications with Messrs. Edwin and Latimer Clark, but more particularly with Mr. Charles V. Walker, and alluding to the important labours of Mr. W. H. Barlow, Mr. Walker, and Dr. Lamont, proceeds to give the official history of the establishment of the wires and other apparatus necessary for its prosecution at the Royal Observatory. In 1860 and 1861, the author submitted to the Board of Visitors of the Royal Observatory proposals for extending wires from the Royal Observatory in two directions nearly at right angles,—on the second occasion, specifying Croydon and Dartford as terminal points. The Board in 1861 recommended this to the Admiralty, who immediately gave their sanction. The author then applied to the Directors of the South- Eastern Railway for permission to place his wires on their poles, which was granted, at a merely nominal rent. All the wires and labour in mounting them were provided by the Railway Company at cost price, and the insulators were furnished by Messrs. Silver without profit. The wires communicate with the earth at both ends of each by solder-attachment to water-pipes. The author then describes the apparatus made by Mr. Simms for the record of the currents. For each wire the current acts on a galvanometer whose needle-carrier also supports a small plane mirror; and, by proper adjustment of cylindrical lenses, neat spots of light are formed upon a rotating ebonite cylinder, covered with photographic paper and made to revolve (by clockwork) in twenty-four hours. With angular motion of the galvanometer, the spot of light moves. The zero of measure is obtained by interrupting the wire-circuit. The zero of time is obtained by interrupting the light and observing the corresponding clock-time. Other adjustments have received great attention.

RETHINKING THE HISTORY OF SOLAR WIND STUDIES: EDDINGTON'S ANALYSIS OF COMET MOREHOUSE

2006 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian T Durham
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Mathematical Analysis ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Early Career ◽  
First Person ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Periodic Comet

Arthur Eddington's very early career is often overshadowed by his later accomplishments. For many years the work he performed at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, was little studied. In some cases, citations to his work in major journals did not appear for more than three decades. One of his earliest works was a mathematical analysis of the shapes of the envelopes of Comet Morehouse, a non-periodic comet discovered in 1908. Eddington's description of the envelopes, in mathematical terms, as paraboloids projected in two dimensions as parabolas, was not studied in earnest until after his death. Although the primary conclusion of his work has recently been modified, there are several other statements he makes about the source of the creation of these envelopes that suggest he should be acknowledged as the first person to suggest that there is a continuous outflow of ions from the Sun.

scholarly journals XIII. On the diurnal inequalities of terrestrial magnetism, as deduced from observa­tions made at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, from 1841 to 1857

1863 ◽  
Vol 153 ◽  
pp. 309-316
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Magnetic Storms ◽  
The State ◽  
Vertical Force ◽  
Horizontal Force ◽  
Terrestrial Magnetism ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
History Of ◽  
To Receive

It has been usual for the Royal Society to receive among their communications and to publish in their ‘Transactions’ the epitomized results of long series of voluminous observations and laborious calculations, of which the fundamental details have been printed in works specially devoted to those subjects. The paper which I have the honour now to submit to the Society consists principally of results of this class. It exhibits in curves the Diurnal Inequalities of Terrestrial Magnetism, as obtained by the use of instruments essentially the same through the whole period of the seventeen years; during the last ten years of which the magnetic indications have been automa­tically recorded by photographic self-registration, on a system which has been continued to the present time (1863) and is still to be continued. I offer these results to the Royal Society in the hope that they will prove no unimportant contribution to a record of the state of Terrestrial Magnetism at Greenwich, through a period which is likely to be esteemed a very important one in the general history of the science. The magnets of the three magnetometers (Declination, Horizontal Force, Vertical Force), from which these indications are obtained, are 2-foot magnets, such as were introduced by Gauss about the time of commencing this series of observations; two of them were prepared at Gottingen. If I had now to establish a magnetical apparatus, I should probably adopt magnets of smaller dimensions. Yet there are advantages in the use of large magnets, as the power of carrying large mirrors, &c., which I would not lightly forego. And, judging from the completeness and delicacy of the registers of magnetic storms made by all three instruments, I have reason to believe that the general accuracy of the records is almost as great as it will be possible to obtain with any instru­ments. I have therefore not thought it necessary to make any change in the instru­mental system.

Trust in Glass: Negotiating the Purchase of the Object Glass for the Airy Transit Circle

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-422
Author(s):  
Daniel Belteki
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Time Distribution ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
John Herschel ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
History Of

The Airy Transit Circle of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich is one of the most important instruments in the history of astronomy, navigation and time distribution. However, there has been very little research done on the history of the instrument. This article examines how the purchase of the object glass for the Airy Transit Circle involved active negotiations between George Biddell Airy and three different opticians: Georg Merz, Noel Paymal Lerebours, and William Simms. The article also shows the involvement of John Herschel and Richard Sheepshanks in Airy’s decision making process. By highlighting the presence of these individuals, the article shows how Airy’s trust and distrust in different instrument makers influenced his choice of supplier for the object glass of the Airy Transit Circle.

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