Astronomical Transit (Telescope)
date: label: date made
content: 1913
name: label: maker
content: Prin, Georges
label: maker
content: Gautier, Paul Ferdinand
notes: label: Description
content: In 1912, an astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory suggested that the longitude between Washington and Paris might be determined, with greater accuracy than before, by using radio signals sent between the Naval Radio Station in Arlington, Va., and the Eiffel Tower radio station in Paris. For this project, there would be two sets of observers, one French and one American, at the Naval Observatory in Washington, and another two sets in Paris. And each set would be equipped with an astronomical transit instrument made by Georges Prin, the instrument maker who had assumed control of Paul Gautier’s instrument shop in 1909.
label: Description
content: This is the telescope assembly from one of the transit instruments used at the Naval Observatory. The aperture is a bit over 3 inches. The inscription reads “P. Gautier / G. PRIN Succ’r / PARIS 1913.”
label: Description
content: Ref: “Determination of the Differences of Longitude Between Washington and Paris,” <i>Publications of the United States Naval Observatory</i> 2nd Series, Vol. IX (1917): Appendix.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: France: Île-de-France, Paris
topic: label: Subject
content: Science & Scientific Instruments
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: U.S. Naval Observatory
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.328502
label: accession number
content: 282476
label: catalog number
content: 328502
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Astronomical Transit (Telescope)
label: Object Name
content: Astronomical Transit
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 1/2 in x 28 1/2 in x 38 in; 34.29 cm x 72.39 cm x 96.52 cm