Scholarlink

While the astrometric and theoretical work at Greenwich Observatory and the United States Naval Observatory was the focus of its early existence, other problems were being studied at the same time. The recent discovery of an extraordinary and completely forgotten Brashear 20.3 cm lens, made with a large centre hole, has shed new light on one of these other problems. That is, the astrometric and geodetic problem of the apparently random variation of latitude – a problem that has plagued all observatories of the past. It would take the better part of a century and the development of highly specialised and exceptionally accurate telescopes for astronomers to complete the puzzle of this short-term variation, but in the end these telescopes, designed for astrometric observations to solve what was essentially a geodetic problem, also proved to be the world’s most accurate timepieces.

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“Who Put that Hole in the Telescope?” The Development of the World’s Most Accurate Timepiece

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Bart Fried

摘要

While the astrometric and theoretical work at Greenwich Observatory and the United States Naval Observatory was the focus of its early existence, other problems were being studied at the same time. The recent discovery of an extraordinary and completely forgotten Brashear 20.3 cm lens, made with a large centre hole, has shed new light on one of these other problems. That is, the astrometric and geodetic problem of the apparently random variation of latitude – a problem that has plagued all observatories of the past. It would take the better part of a century and the development of highly specialised and exceptionally accurate telescopes for astronomers to complete the puzzle of this short-term variation, but in the end these telescopes, designed for astrometric observations to solve what was essentially a geodetic problem, also proved to be the world’s most accurate timepieces.