DIY History | Transcribe | Scholarship at Iowa | Theory of the astronomical transit instrument applied to the portable transit instrument Wuerdemann no.26: a compilation from various authorities, with original observations by Harry Edward Burton, 1903 | Theory of the astronomical transit instrument applied to the portable transit instrument Wuerdemann no. 26: a compilation from various authorities, with original observations by Harry Edward Burton, 1903, Page 47

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Theory of the astronomical transit instrument applied to the portable transit instrument Wuerdemann no.26: a compilation from various authorities, with original observations by Harry Edward Burton, 1903

Theory of the astronomical transit instrument applied to the portable transit instrument Wuerdemann no. 26: a compilation from various authorities, with original observations by Harry Edward Burton, 1903, Page 47

beat, count the seconds (aloud, in a whisper, or mentally), always keeping the count exactly with the tick of the clock.
   To observe the time of transit of a star across a given wire the observer first picks up the beat of the clock as the star apparoaches the wire. At the last tick of the clock occurring before the transit he notes mentally the number of the tick and also carefully observes the apparent distance of the star from the wire. At the next tick the star is on the other side of the wire and the observer notes again the apparent distance of the star from the wire. By a mental comparison of these two distances he estimates tenths of the time interval between the two ticks and obtains his estimate of the time of transit to the nearest tenth of a second."
   Let s be the position of the star at the last beat before 

[image: drawing of transit reading with labels b, c, a]

the star comes to the wire; c its position on the wire and b its position at the next following beat. The observer compares ac with cb or ac with ab and

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beat, count the seconds (aloud, in a whisper, or mentally), always keeping the count exactly with the tick of the clock. To observe the time of transit of a star across a given wire the observer first picks up the beat of the clock as the star apparoaches the wire. At the last tick of the clock occurring before the transit he notes mentally the number of the tick and also carefully observes the apparent distance of the star from the wire. At the next tick the star is on the other side of the wire and the observer notes again the apparent distance of the star from the wire. By a mental comparison of these two distances he estimates tenths of the time interval between the two ticks and obtains his estimate of the time of transit to the nearest tenth of a second." Let s be the position of the star at the last beat before [image: drawing of transit reading with labels b, c, a] the star comes to the wire; c its position on the wire and b its position at the next following beat. The observer compares ac with cb or ac with ab and