transit instrument

American  

noun

1. Astronomy. meridian circle.

2. Surveying. transit.

---

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

---

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 demands of astronomy, especially in regard to small minor planets, required a transit instrument and mural circle with a more powerful telescope.

From History of Astronomy by Forbes, George

We now come to the consideration of the determination of time with the transit instrument.

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

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 Hitchcock, Edward