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Prime, Samuel Irenaeus

(Encyclopedia)Prime, Samuel Irenaeus, 1812–85, American Presbyterian clergyman and editor, b. Ballston Spa, N.Y. After holding pastorates at Ballston Spa and Matteawan, N.Y., he became assistant editor (1840–49...

universal time

(Encyclopedia)universal time (UT), the international time standard common to every place in the world, it nominally reflects the mean solar time along the earth's prime meridian (renumbered to equate to civil time)...

transit instrument

(Encyclopedia)transit instrument or transit, telescope devised to observe stars as they cross the meridian and used for determining time. Its viewing tube swings on a rigid horizontal axis restricting its movements...

standard time

(Encyclopedia)standard time, civil time used within a given time zone. The earth is divided into 24 time zones, each of which is about 15° of longitude wide and corresponds to one hour of time. Within a zone all c...

compass

(Encyclopedia)compass. 1 In mathematics, an instrument for making circles and measuring distances. Frequently called a pair of compasses, it consists of two metal legs with one end of each attached to a pivot to fo...

culminate

(Encyclopedia)culminate, in astronomy, the maximum height in the sky reached by a celestial body on a given day. At the culminate the body is crossing the observer's celestial meridian and is said to be in upper tr...

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