meridian circle

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. a transit instrument provided with a graduated vertical scale, used to measure the declinations of heavenly bodies and to determine the time of meridian transits.

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meridian circle British  

noun

1. an instrument used in astronomy for determining the declination and right ascension of stars. It consists of a telescope attached to a graduated circle

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Etymology

Origin of meridian circle

First recorded in 1540–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

meridian circle

Its eastern arm is an apartment 22 by 24 feet, in which the meridian circle is to be placed.

From The Uses of Astronomy An Oration Delivered at Albany on the 28th of July, 1856 by Everett, Edward

The points of contact thus ascertained were marked with faint dots, and the meridian circle thereby divided into 256 very nearly equal parts.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various

By an alliance between the astronomer and the mathematician it is possible to measure the discrepancies between the actual meridian circle and the instrument that is ideally perfect.

From The Story of the Heavens by Ball, Robert S. (Robert Stawell), Sir

The rim of the cavity represents a meridional circle, to which corresponds some meridian circle of the terrella, since the poles on both sides are within the circumference of the rim itself.

From On the magnet, magnetick bodies also, and on the great magnet the earth a new physiology, demonstrated by many arguments & experiments by Gilbert, William

We find here the meridian circle, M, and the equator E, of the diagram shown in Fig.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 810, July 11, 1891 by Various