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2 unusual facts about Meridian Circle


Meridian circle

In the Almagest Ptolemy describes a meridian circle which consisted of a fixed graduated outer ring and a movable inner ring with tabs that used a shadow to set the Sun's position.

In the United Kingdom the transit instrument and mural circle continued till the middle of the 19th century to be the principal instrument in observatories, the first transit circle constructed there being that at Greenwich (mounted in 1850) but on the continent the transit circle superseded them from the years 1818-1819, when two circles by Johann Georg Repsold and by Reichenbach were mounted at Göttingen, and one by Reichenbach at Königsberg.


Great refractor

A great refractor was often the centerpiece of a new 19th century observatory, but was typically used with an entourage of other astronomical instruments such as a Meridian Circle, a Heliometer, and Astrograph, and a smaller refractor such as a Comet Seeker or Equatorial.


see also

CAMC

Carlsberg Meridian Telescope, formerly known as the Carlsberg Automatic Meridian Circle.