Abstract
PERSONAL EQUATIONS IN TRANSIT OBSERVATIONS.—In the reduction of transit observations the question of personal equation is an important factor in the accuracy of the final star places, and it is on this account that investigations are always being pursued to determine the values of these equations for each meridian observer. A communication of importance in this respect appears in the Monthly Notices for May, by Prof. Truman Safford, who treats of the various forms of personal equation in transit observations which arise from the non-observance of the exact time of transit due to personality, magnitude of the star observed, and the apparent velocity and direction of movement. In his investigation Prof. Safford concludes that since the year 1795 most eve and ear observers anticipate the true time of transits, taking the average observed as a standard.
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Our Astronomical Column. Nature 56, 206 (1897). https://doi.org/10.1038/056206a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/056206a0