scholarly journals Mean Areas of Umbr , Whole Spots, and Facul  upon the Sun's Disk as measured on Photographs taken at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, for each Rotation of the Sun from 1873, July 11

1879 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
pp. 515-517
Keyword(s):  
The Sun ◽  
1761 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 182-183

Having measured the diameter of Venus, on the sun, three times, with the object-glass micrometer, the mean was found to be 58 seconds; and but 6/10 of a second, the difference of the extremes.


1977 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 37-39
Author(s):  
W. Gliese

In 1969 the second edition of the “Catalogue of Nearby Stars” was published. It contains 1529 single stars and systems with a total of 1890 components. The catalogue lists all stars with parallaxes equal to or larger than 0.”045. Only 1049 of these objects are nearer than 20 pc. The “Catalogue of Stars within 25 pc of the Sun”, published 1970 in the Royal Observatory Annals No. 5 consists of 1744 systems of which 1566 trigonometric parallaxes.


1872 ◽  
Vol 20 (130-138) ◽  
pp. 308-312 ◽  

In a paper published in the ‘Proceedings of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna,’ vol. lxiv., Dr. Karl Hornstein has exhibited the results of a series of observations which appeared to show that the earths magnetism undergoes a periodical change in successive periods of 26 1/3 days, which might with great plausibility be referred to the rotation of the sun. It appeared to me that the deductions from the magnetic observations made at the Royal Observatory of Greenwich, and which are printed annually in the Greenwich Observations,’ or in the detached copies of ‘Results of Magnetical and Meteorological Observations made at the Royal Observatory of Greenwich, would afford good materials for testing the accuracy of this law, as applicable to a series of years. The mew results of the measured hourly ordinates of the terrestrial magnetic elements are given for every day, and it is certain that there has been no change of adjustments of the declination and horizontal-force instruments in the course of each year. For the horizontal-force instrument the temperature of the room has been maintained in a generally equable state, and in later years it has been remarkably uniform.


Since a minute description of the new circular instrument, which has been lately put up at Greenwich, is intended to be given to the Society as soon as it is completed in every respect, the Astronomer Royal takes no further notice of its construction than is necessary to show by what means the results of his observations of the sun at the last solstice was obtained. In other instruments, which take their point of departure from a plumb-line or level, the zenith distance of the sun is the primary ob­ject of investigation; and the polar distance of the sun, which is the ultimate object, is obtained by adding the co-latitude of the place, which completes the entire arc.


1763 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 158-169 ◽  

It will, no doubt, appear surprizing, that I should attempt to determine the difference of longitude between two of the most celebrated observatories in Europe; and in which some of the greatest astronomers, that ever lived, have, for above eighty years, been constantly observing the motions of the heavenly bodies: yet it is most certain, that, to this day, we are ignorant of the said difference of longitude: the English astronomers reckoning it to be = 9' 20", and the French setting it down at 9' 10", which, they tell us, was found by M. Cassini, by observations of the eclipses of Jupiter's first satellite made by him, whilst in London in the year 1698: we are no where told, that I know of, by what observations the English astronomers have fixed this difference at 9' 20".


1768 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 355-365 ◽  

The weather, which had been cloudy or rainy here, with a south wind, for the greatest part of the day, began to clear up at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the wind having returned to the west, the same quarter in which it had been the afternoon before, which was remarkably fine and serene, though it changed early in the morning preceding the transit. Towards the approach of Venus's ingress on the Sun, the sky was become again very serene, and so continued all the evening, which afforded as favourable an observation of the transit here as could well be expected, considering that the Sun was only 7° 3' high at the external, and 4° 33' at the internal contact. I observed the external contact of Venus at 7h 10' 58" apparent time, with an uncertainty seemingly not exceeding 5"; and the internal contact, by which I mean the completion of the thread of light between the circumferences of the Sun and Venus, at 7h 29' 23" apparent time, with a seeming uncertainty of only 3"; for so long was the thread of light in forming, or the Sun's light in flowing round and filling up that part of his circumference which was obscured by Venus's exterior limb.


An expedition to observe the total solar eclipse of August 30 having been sanctioned by the Admiralty, it was arranged, in concert with the Joint Permanent Eclipse Committee, that a party from the Royal Observatory should make observations at Sfax, a town on the north coast of Africa, about 150 miles south of Tunis. The programme of observations consisted of photographs of the corona on various scales for coronal detail and streamers, and photographs of the spectrum of the corona and chromosphere. The observers from Greenwich who took part in the expedition were Sir William Christie, Mr. Dyson, and Mr. Davidson. Professor Sampson, Mr. J. J. Atkinson, and Captain Brett, D. S. O., generously volunteered their assistance and shared the work of erecting and adjusting the instruments as well as of the observations on the day of the eclipse.


The sky was almost continually overcast for many days, and very little hopes were left about this eclipse; yet it having in part cleared up on the afternoon of the 16th, I observed the beginning and several phases of it. I had settled the going of an excellent clock, regulated according to mean time, by corresponding altitudes of the sun taken the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th of August, and by the meridian transits taken by an instrument, of five feet focus, on the 12, 13, 14, 15, and 17. so that no doubt remained about the motion of this clock, which was extremely regular.


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