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transit

(Encyclopedia)transit, in astronomy, passage of a body across a meridian or passage of a small body across the visible disk of a larger one. (The passage of a large body across a smaller one is called an eclipse or...

Janssen, Pierre Jules César

(Encyclopedia)Janssen, Pierre Jules César pyĕr zhül sāzärˈ zhäNsĕnˈ [key], 1824–1907, French astronomer. In 1857–58, in Peru, he worked on the determination of the magnetic equator; in the Azores (1867...

Secchi, Pietro Angelo

(Encyclopedia)Secchi, Pietro Angelo pyĕˈtrō änˈjālō sĕkˈkē [key], 1818–78, Italian astronomer, a Jesuit priest. He was director of the observatory of the Gregorian Univ., Rome, from 1849. He is known es...

Hipparchus, Greek astronomer

(Encyclopedia)Hipparchus, fl. 2d cent. b.c., Greek astronomer, b. Nicaea, Bithynia. He is the first systematic astronomer of whom there are records. He made his observations chiefly on the island of Rhodes. Ptolemy...

Schuster, Sir Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Schuster, Sir Arthur, 1851–1934, English physicist, b. Germany. At Owens College, Manchester Univ., he was professor of applied mathematics (1881–88) and professor of physics (1888–1907). He is ...

corona, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)corona, luminous envelope surrounding the sun, outside the chromosphere. Its density is less than one billionth that of the earth's atmosphere. The corona is visible only at the time of totality durin...

Davidson, George

(Encyclopedia)Davidson, George, 1825–1911, American geographer and astronomer, b. England. From 1845 to 1895 he was on the staff of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. He charted (1850–60) the U.S. Pacific coas...

Freundlich, Erwin Finlay

(Encyclopedia)Freundlich, Erwin Finlay froindˈlĭkh [key], 1885–1964, German astronomer. Freundlich obtained a doctorate in mathematics at Göttingen, then joined the Royal Observatory at Berlin, where he worked...

Major Planets of the Solar System (table)

(Encyclopedia)Major Planets of the Solar System ...

Keeler, James Edward

(Encyclopedia)Keeler, James Edward, 1857–1900, American astronomer, b. La Salle, Ill. At the age of 21 he went on the Naval Observatory expedition to Colorado to observe the solar eclipse of July, 1878. In 1886 h...