transit instrument

American  

noun

1. Astronomy. meridian circle.

2. Surveying. transit.

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transit instrument British  

noun

1. an astronomical instrument, mounted on an E-W axis, in which the reticle of a telescope is always in the plane of the meridian. It is used to time the transit of a star, etc, across the meridian

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Etymology

Origin of transit instrument

First recorded in 1805–15

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

transit instrument

The planetarium's dome will float over a reflecting pool, will house an "intermediate space transit instrument" which will project the heavens not only as they appear on earth but from the moon.

From Time Magazine Archive

In 1721 he got a transit instrument, and in 1726 a mural quadrant by Graham.

From History of Astronomy by George Forbes

A coast survey observer had once let me look through his transit instrument and try to observe the passage of a star.

From The Reminiscences of an Astronomer by Simon Newcomb

What a change have the telescope, the quadrant, and the transit instrument, aided by profound mathematics, and the talismanic power of the Newtonian theory of gravitation, produced!

From The Religion of Geology and Its Connected Sciences by Edward Hitchcock

With Leverrier's bad English and my bad French we talked but little, but he showed me the transit instrument, the mural circle, the computing-room, and the private office.

From Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals by Maria Mitchell

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