Abstract
THE INFLUENCE OF ASTIGMATISM IN THE EYE ON ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.—Prof. Seeliger has published, in the Abhandlungen der k. bayer Akademie der Wiss., ii. Cl., xv. Bd., 3 Abth., an interesting paper on this subject. The paper is divided into four sections. The first part treats of certain details connected with the refraction of light which are used in the subsequent investigations. The second part gives the theory of the formation of images in an astigmatic eye, and its application to measures made with an altitude instrument. In the third and fourth parts the author treats of the application of his theory to the heliometer and wire-micrometer respectively. It appears, from Prof. Seeliger's researches, that this malformation in the eye, which is far from uncommon, exerts a larger influence on astronomical measurements than is commonly supposed. Thus, he shows that a systematic error in a series of observed declinations amounting to 0″.26 may very well be due to it. And it appears that the discordances in observed position-angles of double stars, depending on the inclination of the line joining the components to the vertical, with which the measures of some observers are affected, may in part be referred to the same cause. Prof. Seeliger's paper is one which may be profitably studied by those who aspire to the attainment of greater accuracy in astronomical observations.
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Our Astronomical Column . Nature 35, 59 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/035059a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/035059a0