scholarly journals VIII. Astronomical observations. In two letters from M. Francis de Zach, Professor of Mathematics, and Member of the Royal Academies of Sciences at Marseilles, Dijon, and Lyons, to Mr. Tiberius Cavallo, F. R. S

1785 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 137-152
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Vernal Equinox ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
Pendulum Clock ◽  
Jupiter’S Satellites

Sir, I send you the account of the observations on the eclipse of the moon, which I have made together with the rev. Father Le Fevre, Astronomer at Lyons, in the Observatory called au grand Collège ; to which I shall add the observations of the vernal equinox; some observation son Jupiter's satellites, made at Marseilles by M. Saint Jacques de Sylvabelle; and, lastly, a new solution of a problem that occurs in computing the orbits of comets. If you think that these observations do in any way deserve the notice of the Royal Society, I ascertain the going of the pendulum clock, I took several corresponding altitudes of the sun, which you will find in the following table.On the day of the eclipse the sky was very serene, nothing could be finer, and it continued so during the observation.

scholarly journals XLI. Introduction to the following observations, made by Messieurs Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, for determining the length of a degree of latitude, in the provinces of Maryland and Pennsylvania, in North America; by the Reverend Nevil Maskelyne, B. D. F. R. S. Astronomer Royal

1768 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 270-273 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
Cape Of Good Hope ◽  
The Right ◽  
Nevil Maskelyne

Messieurs Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who observed the last transit of Venus over the sun, at the Cape of Good Hope, under the direction of the Royal Society, had been since engaged, by the Right Honourable Lord Baltimore and the Honourable Mr. Penn, to settle the limits between the provinces of Maryland and Pennsylvania, in North America; which they performed partly by trigonometrical, and partly by astronomical observations.

scholarly journals Archaeoastronomical Aspects of the Archaeological Monuments of Siberia

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1 and 2) ◽  
pp. 109-117
Author(s):  
Leonid Marsadolov
Keyword(s):  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
The North ◽  
Ancient People ◽  
Celestial Bodies ◽  
Night Sky

The necessity of astronomical observations for nomadic peoples of Eurasia was based on the sacral meaning of time. The celestial bodies, the Sun and the Moon were parts of cult of the Sky. During annual migrations, in particular those where there were no reliable landmarks, nomads navigated with the North Star and the main constellations of the night sky. Remains left by these nomads, including rock pictures, barrows and observation posts are the legacy of a complex, organised system reflecting the relations of ancient people with the cosmos.

Mississippian Solstice Shrines and a Cahokian Calendar: An Hypothesis Based on Ethnohistory and Archaeology

1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia J. O'Brien ◽  
William P. McHugh
Keyword(s):  
Full Moon ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Summer Solstice ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Winter Solstice ◽  
Vernal Equinox ◽  
Religious Ritual ◽  
Autumnal Equinox ◽  
New Moon ◽  
Using Data

This article examines the hypothesis that early Middle Mississippians had a calendric system which tied agriculture and religious ritual together. It also suggests that to that end they built solstice shrines as a means of recording the passage of time through the behavior of the sun and the moon. Using data from structures having possible astronomical alignments, from historic-ethnographic-linguistic sources, and from agricultural planting cycles, a “Cahokian calendar year” is constructed. The year begins with the summer solstice and the Great Busk ceremony. At the next full moon the “great corn” is planted to be harvested at the autumnal equinox. At the winter solstice winter begins while the vernal equinox is marked by a ritual for the Great Sun, their ruler. At the next new moon after that rite a “little corn” is planted which is harvested at the Great Busk. In their five-day, thirteenth month, just before the Busk, all the fires in the society are extinguished to be relit at the summer solstice Great Busk ceremony.

scholarly journals III. Total eclipse of the sun observed at Caroline Island, on 6th May, 1883

1889 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 119-135 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Solar Physics ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Solar Image ◽  
Total Eclipse ◽  
Previous Communication

Owing to the representations of the Committee on Solar Physics, who communicated with the Royal Society the desirability of observing this eclipse, an expedition was organised under the auspices of the latter body. The Council of the Royal Society having requested me to draw up a report on the Total Eclipse observed at Caroline Island, I undertook the task so far as relates to the results which were obtained with the same instruments which were employed in the observations of the Total Eclipse in Egypt in 1882. Two observers, Mr. H. Lawrance and Mr. C. R. Woods, who had both taken part in the Eclipse Expedition to Egypt as assistants to Professors Lockyer and Schuster, were entrusted with the arduous duty of making the observations. The expedition was devoted entirely to photographic work, the main object being to continue the photographic observations which had been carried on in Egypt, consisting of photographs of the corona taken on very rapid plates with varying exposure, photographs of the corona taken with a slitless spectroscope (the prismatic camera), and a photograph of the corona spectrum, the image of the moon and the corona being thrown on the slit cutting the diameter of the former. There is no occasion to describe the instruments which were employed for the first two classes of observations, as they have been fully described in the previous communication to the Royal Society by Professor Schuster and myself which appears in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ for 1884. The photographic spectroscope which was employed on this occasion differed in one detail, and in one detail only, in that the dispersion was doubled, two medium dense flint prisms of 62½° being employed instead of one prism of the same angle. The experience gained in Egypt seemed to show that, if the coronal light was equally bright in the two eclipses, the rapid plates used on both occasions would be amply adequate to secure photographs with the larger dispersion. Besides these observations several others were made, but did not meet with the success it was hoped they would have done. A photoheliograph, giving a 4-inch solar image, was attached to an equatorial mount, in addition to the wooden camera carrying a lens of 5 ft. 6 in. focus, with which the smaller-sized pictures of the corona were taken in Egypt. The pictures taken with the former though sufficiently exposed, showed that a large image could be utilised.

scholarly journals X. Report of the observations of the total solar eclipse of august 29, 1886, made at the Island of Carriacou

1889 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 351-362
Keyword(s):  
Solar Eclipse ◽  
West Indies ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Total Solar Eclipse ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Committee Meeting ◽  
The West ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
Windward Islands ◽  
Green Island

The astronomers appointed by the Committee of the Royal Society to proceed to the West Indies to observe the total eclipse of the Sun on the morning of August 29, sailed together from Southampton in the R. M. S. “Nile,” Captain Gillies, on July 29, and, after a fair passage, anchored at Barbados at daybreak on August 11. A committee meeting on board had partly fixed our plans with regard to the stations of observation, so that, when we found two of H. M.’s gunboats awaiting our arrival in the roadstead, the instruments of Mr. Maunder and of the Rev. S. J. Perry were, after consultation with the commanders of H.M/s vessels, at once transferred to the “Bullfrog,” whilst the remainder of the instruments found a ready berth on the deck of H. M. S. “Fantôme,” which, being the larger of the two unboats, was reserved for the observers destined for Grenada and its immediate vicinity. Both the war-vessels started the same morning for Grenada, Mr. Lockyer and Dr. Thorpe sailing on board the “Fantome,” in order to secure the earliest possible interview with the Governor of the Windward Islands. The rest of the astronomers left the same evening in the R. M. S. “Eden,” Captain Mackenzie, and, after touching at St. Vincent, arrived at Grenada early on the afternoon of the 12th. The private luggage of Mr. Maunder and of the Rev. S. J. Perry was immediately placed on board H. M. S.“Bullfrog,” where they received the heartiest welcome from Captain Masterman, R. N., who devoted the best part of his own cabin to Father Perry, and found a comfortable private cabin for Mr. Maunder. Captain Archer, R. N., had also arrived at Grenada in command of H. M. S. “Fantome”; and the “Sparrowhawk,” a surveying vessel, commanded by Captain Oldham, R. N., was anchored in the harbour of St. George, her officers having been placed by the Hydrographer of the Admiralty at the disposal of the expedition. Previous to our arrival Governor Sendall, most ably assisted by Captain Melling, had personally inspected most of the best sites for the astronomical observations, collected all existing records of the weather, and designed huts for the protection of the instruments. Carriacou and Green Island were told off for the northern station, to be occupied by Father Perry and Mr. Maunder, assisted by the officers and men of H. M. S. “Bullfrog” and by Sub-Lieutenant Helby, of H. M. S. “Sparrowhawk.” It was thought, however, more advisable not to separate the members of this party by a distance of some twenty miles, and, therefore, the more northerly island of Carriacou was fixed upon as the site best suited for both observers.

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