2008
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Contents |
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Introduction
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Irish astronomy connections
- Neolithic/Bronze age alignments
- William Rowan Hamilton
- the Lord Rosses
- George Stoney
- William Monck
- Thomas Grubb
- Agnes Mary Clarke
- Col. Kenneth Edgeworth
- Jocelyn Bell-Burnell
- You
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Birr 72" telescope
- Largest telescope in the world until 1917
- Used to obtain the first evidence for galaxies other than our own
- Used to measure the temperature of the moon
Newgrange, Stonehendge etc. were constructed as observatories and calculators
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Basic Concepts
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Position
The local references that we can find anywhere on Earth are:
- Horizon
- Compass points
- Zenith (point directly above observer)
- Meridian (plane running through N pole, S pole, zenith and nadir)
The nadir is the point directly below observer.
When a body is on an observer's meridian, it is at the highest point above the horizon. The crossing of the meridian is called a transit. The transit of the Sun defines local noon. The transit of the Sun across the Earth's prime meridian, the Greenwich meridian at 0° longitude, is used to define noon in Greenwich time at two times during the year.
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References
- Brian Espey Lecture Notes http://www.tcd.ie/Physics/People/Brian.Espey/teaching.html
- Astronomy - The Evolving Universe by Michael Zeilik (9th ed. 2002)
