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

Example Sentences

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

The transit instrument is always reversed at least once in the course of an evening’s observing, the level being frequently read and recorded.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various

For the purpose of reading the scale we used a small bull's-eye lantern belonging to a transit instrument, and it threw out a long beam of light.

From A Canyon Voyage The Narrative of the Second Powell Expedition down the Green-Colorado River from Wyoming, and the Explorations on Land, in the Years 1871 and 1872 by Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel

Each has its separate building, and in the smaller building is a transit instrument.

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

The transit instrument, the meridian circle, the mural circle, the heliometer, and the sextant, belong to this class.

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