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Astrometry With The Yale Heliometer, 1882–1910

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2017

Dorrit Hoffleit
Affiliation:
Yale University Observatory, P.O. Box 6666, New Haven, CT 06511
William van Altena
Affiliation:
Yale University Observatory, P.O. Box 6666, New Haven, CT 06511

Extract

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In 1880 Yale ordered a 6-inch heliometer from Repsold of Hamburg which was delivered on time for observations of the transit of Venus in 1882. Stellar astrometry, however, was not begun until W. L. Elkin came to Yale in 1884. Trained at Strassburg his Ph.D. dissertation dealt with the parallax of α Centauri (Elkin 1880). He then gained practical experience with Sir David Gill at the Cape. Elkin was the ideal man for the Yale heliometer and to secure his appointment H. A. Newton (1884) solicited subscriptions of $100 per year for three years from ten officers and friends of the observatory.

Type
Part I: Historical Research
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1988 

References

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