Statistics – Computation
Scientific paper
Dec 1921
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1921natur.108..531f&link_type=abstract
Nature, Volume 108, Issue 2721, pp. 531-532 (1921).
Statistics
Computation
Scientific paper
IN 1769 the French academician Le Gentil went on a journey to Mauritius, Pondichéry, and Manila to observe the transit of Venus and to study atmospheric refraction in the tropics. As an incident of the latter, while at Pondichéry he observed carefully the form of the rising sun, with attendant phenomena, and noted the instants of upper and lower contacts in several cases, with the help of the telescope of his quadrant and a clock. While he does hot seem to have made any further use of the durations deducible from his observations, nevertheless with the help of the Nautical Almanac of that year and a standard astronomical formula one may compute the duration which would have held on the assumption of constant refraction, and may compare this with the actual observations and with the accompanying descriptions of the sun's form. The subjoined table shows the results. Type A (see Popular Astronomy, ``On Types of Sunrise and Sunset,'' vol. 29, p. 251, 1921; NATURE, October 13, p. 211), which is a mirage type, has an average excess of +23 per cent, as compared with computation; the one type B case has an excess of + 5.3 per cent. These results agree with numerous observations made by the present writer at various stations in Pacific and Atlantic waters. It is as if the sun sets behind a receding horizon and rises beyond an approaching horizon.
No associations
LandOfFree
Old Observations Bearing on the Duration of Sunrise does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Old Observations Bearing on the Duration of Sunrise, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Old Observations Bearing on the Duration of Sunrise will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1461714