Summary
The following notice was received too late for insertion in its proper place in Chapter IV., Section I.
HAVERFORD OBSERVATORY.
This observatory is situated about nine miles west of Philadelphia. The building is of stone, and consists of a central part about 20 feet square, and of about the same height, with two wings, each 15 feet square, and is surmounted by a revolving dome 19 feet in diameter. The instruments are an equatorial telescope; a meridian transit circle; a prime vertical transit; a sidereal clock; and Bond's magnetic register. The equatorial, by Henry Fitz, has an aperture of 8} inches, and a focal length of 11 feet. It is mounted in the Fraunhofer style, on a marble pedestal 8 feet high, which is supported by a stone pier 6 feet in diameter, passing through the floors of the building, and resting upon solid masonry 8 or 10 feet below the surface of the ground. This telescope has an excellent spider-line, and also an annular micrometer, with five eye-pieces, magnifying from 60 to 500 times. It is provided with a clock-movement, whose attachment is such as allows the tube to be turned while the clock is in operation.
In the west wing is placed the meridian circle, which was made by W. J. Young, of Philadelphia. It has an excellent telescope of 4 inches aperture, and 5 feet focus, with two circles 26 inches in diameter, one of which reads by four verniers to two seconds of arc; the other – is used simply as a finder. The instrument is supported by marble piers, five feet high, firmly based on masonry.
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- The Recent Progress of AstronomyEspecially in the United States, pp. 395 - 396Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1856