Timekeeping and Telescopes at the Detroit Observatory

The soul without imagination is what an observatory would be without a telescope.

--Henry Ward Beecher

Overview

ExploretheusesoftheMeridianCircleTelescope,includingmeasuringtimeandcelestialcoordinates
Understandsolarvssiderealtime
Comparetelescopesandmounts

Time
SolarTime
Sincebeforerecordedhistorybegan,peoplehavemeasuredtime.Itseemslikeaverysimplethingwehave
clocksa
llaroundusthattelluswhattimeitis.However,settingourclocksisnotespeciallysimple.Howdowe
definetheunitsandreferenceframeformeasuringtime?Thisoriginatesfromastronomy.
Ourclockisbasedonthed
ay.ThedayistheaveragetimeittakesfortheSuntoreturntothelocalm
eridian,
whichisthelineofrightascension(poletopole)passingthroughthezenith(overhead).Forhistoricalreasons,
thedayisdividedinto24hours.S
olartimeisthetimeyoumeasurefromas
undial(Figure1).Sundialstrack
theapparentmotionoftheSunduringtheday,usuallybyusingashadow,althoughanapertureagainsta
shadowedbackgroundalsoworks.Ashadowisshortestatmidday,whentheSunisonthemeridian.Sincethe
Sunrisesandsetsatdifferentrelativetimesthroughouttheyear,middayisthereforethemostaccurate
momenttodistinguishbetweendays.However,itwouldbeinconvenienttochangethedateatmidday,andso
westartourdayatmidnight,exactly12hoursbeforenoon.
Figure1:T
hesundialatAngellHall(clicktextforlargerimage).
Theshadowofthegnomonindicatesitisjustafter10AMlocal
solartime.
Onebigproblemisthatthemeridianisalocalreference.A
personwestofyouhasameridianwestofyou,sowhenitisyour
noon,solartime,itisstillmorningforthatotherperson,evenif
s/heisstandingonlyafewfeetawayfromyou.Similarly,it's
alreadyafternoonforsomeonestandingafewfeeteastofyou.
Thisproblemisresolvedbydefiningthet imezones,which
standardizeeveryonetothesameclockwithineachtimezone.

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Inthe19thcentury,theadventofrailroadsmadeaccurate,coordinatedtimekeepingessential,sothatmultiple
trainscouldrunonsingletrackswithoutdisaster.ThefirstofficialtimezonewasadoptedinBritainbythe
railwaysinthe1847,basedonsolartimeonthemeridianoftheRoyalGreenwichObservatory.Theaverage
solartimeatGreenwichisG
reenwichMeanTime(GMT).Theglobeisdividedinto24integerhourtime
zones,andthereareothersoffsetbyfractionalhours.In18834,muchoftheworldadoptedtheGreenwich
Meridianastheprimemeridianforbothlongitudeandtimezones,andtheAmericanrailwaysalsoadoptedthis
StandardRailwayTimesystem.Thisstandardizedtime,whichisthesameasthetimeonyourwatch,isknown
asc
iviltime.
Today,theUSNavalObservatory(USNO)andtheNationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology(NIST)
maintainandprovidetheglobalstandardtime.Solartimeisdifficulttotrackaccurately,becausetheEarthdoes
notrotateperfectlyuniformly.In1967,NISTredefinedthelengthofones
econdtobebasedonthevibrational
periodofacesiumatom,ratherthanonthesubdivisionofsolartime.ThisproducedC
oordinatedUniversal
Time(UTC),whichisbasedonGMT,butattherateofthecesiumatom.Thenewtimescaledoeseventually
losesynchronizationwithsolartime,andwhenthedifferenceis1second,aleapsecondisintroduced.

SiderealTime
TheEarthrotatesrelativetothedistantstars,aswellasrelativetotheSun.Thus,wecanalsousethestarsto
telltime,whichiscalleds
iderealtime("sidus"isaLatinwordfor"star").Thesiderealdayisthelengthoftime
ittakestheEarthtomakeonecompleterotationrelativetothefixedcelestialsphere.Sincewedefinedsolar
timesuchthatourlocalpositionfacestheSuneverydayatnoon,siderealtimemustnecessarilybedifferent
becauseoftheEarth'sorbitaroundtheSun.TheEarthorbitstheSuninthesamedirectionthatitrotates,soit
takesslightlymorethanoneEarthrotationfortheSuntoreturntothemeridianbetweendays(seeFigure2).
Thisamountstooneextrarotationrelativetothefixedstars,oroneextrasiderealday,peryear.Thereare
roughly365.25solardaysperyear,andthereare1440minutesinasolarday(butseebelow).Fromthis,you
canshowthatthesiderealdayisabout4minutesshorterthanthesolarday.
Figure2:TopdownviewofEarthand
Sunfromonesolardaytothenext(not
toscale).Noononthesolardayis
definedbytheobserver'smeridian
facingtheSun(dashedlines).Onthe
firstday,thisconditionmeansthat
anotherobserveratpositionMis
exactlyfacingstarXatmidnight.On
thesecondday,weseethatforthefirst
observeratsolarnoon,thesecond
observeratMisnolongerfacingstar
X.Thus,toexecuteonefullsolarday
requiresonefullsiderealdayplusabitmorerotation.

Justaswithsolartime,themostconvenientlocalreferenceforsiderealtimeisthemeridian(seeFigure3).The
apparentmotionofthestarsoccursstrictlyeastwestbecauseitiscausedbytheEarth'srotation.Theskyis
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dividedinto24hoursandthemeridianissetatthevernalequinox:theSun'spositionrelativetothefixedstars,
onthefirstdayofspringinthenorthernhemisphere.WhentheSuncrossesyourlocalmeridianatnoononthis
day,thesiderealtimeisexactly0:00hourssiderealtime.(Thesiderealdayisnotoffsettomidnight.)
Figure3:TheareaoftheskyvisiblefromAnnArborandsimilarlatitudes.

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TheGregorianCalendar
Peopleareinterestednotonlyinthepassageofdays,butalsointhepassageoftheseasons,andtherefore,
years.Theyear,whichistheEarth'sorbitalperiodaroundtheSun,isunrelatedtotheEarth'srotationalperiod.
However,weneedciviltimetosynchronizewiththeyearlyc
alendar.Thereare365.2422daysinanaverage
year,soalmost365andaquarterdays.In1582,PopeGregoryXIIIestablishedtheG
regorianCalendar,
whichisinusetoday.Inthissystem,every4thyearaddsoneleapday,e
xceptforyearsthataredivisibleby
100andn
otdivisibleby400.Forexample,theyear2000wasaleapyear,buttheyear1900wasnot.This
exceptionhelpscorrectforthedifferencebetween365.2422and365.25daysperyear.

Telescopes
At elescopeisadevicethatcollectslightandconcentrates,orf ocusesit.Thus,faintobjectscanbegreatly
brightenedwithatelescope.Objectscanalsoappearm
agnifiedb
ythetelescope.Lightisfocusedby
manipulatingthepathsofthelightrayswithlenses,mirrors,oracombinationofboth.Atelescopethathasa
lensasitsprimaryopticalelement,oro
bjective,isar efractingtelescope(Figure1).Atelescopethathasa
mirrorasitsobjectiveisar eflectingtelescope(Figure2).Thee
yepieceisalensthatrestorestheoriginal
directionofthelightpaths,whicharenowmoreconcentratedorcloselypacked(bestseeninFigure2).Thisis
necessaryforoureyetoviewtheimage.
Figure1:Refractor

Figure2:Reflector(Newtonianconfiguration)

Astronomicaltelescopescanpointinmostdirectionsonthesky,buttheirm
ountsmayusedifferentcoordinate
systems.
Thea
ltitudeazimuthsystemisfamiliartomostpeople.Azimuthisthedirection,suchasnorthorsoutheast.
Itcanbegivenmoreexplicitlybyusingdegreesonthecircleofthehorizon,withNorthas0andeastas90.
Altitudeisalsomeasuredindegrees,withzeroonthehorizonand90overhead.AltAzmountssitflat,with
oneaxisperpendiculartothehorizon.
Thee
quatorialsystemusesthecelestialcoordinatesofRightAscensionandDeclination.Declinationlines
areidenticaltolinesoflatitudeontheEarth,with0onthecelestialequatorand90onthenorthcelestialpole.
RightAscensionparallelsourlinesoflongitude,buttheyneedtoalignwiththestars,notageographicposition.
The0pointforsiderealtimewasactuallychosenbasedonthe0pointofRA:thevernalequinox.Bymeasuring
RAinhoursinsteadofdegrees,thecoordinatealsomakesaconvenientclock.Thus,siderealtimeis
measuredonlybythetransitinghoursofrightascension(RA)onthecelestialsphere.Forsimplicity,theRAon
themeridianisequaltothesiderealtime.Inotherwords,ifyouknowtheRAofanobjectthatiscrossingthe
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meridian,youalsoknowthesiderealtime.Conversely,youcanalsodeterminetheRAofanobjectbynoting
thesiderealtimewhenitcrossesthemeridian.Equatorialmountsaretiltedsothatoneaxisisparalleltothe
pole.

TheDetroitObservatory
BecausetheEarth'sorbitaroundtheSunisanellipse,andanimperfectoneatthat,thedaysvaryinlength
anditisdifficulttoaccuratelycalibratesolartime.Incontrast,siderealtimeismorestraightforwardtotrackand
calibrate.Thus,mostofficialtimekeepingwasdonebyastronomicalobservatories,basedonsiderealtime,and
convertedtosolartime.
UMPresidentHenryPhilipTappandirectedtheconstructionoftheD
etroitObservatoryin1854toestablish
thefledglingUniversityasamodernresearchinstitution.Timekeepingwasasubjectofactivediscussionthen,
importantforbothscienceandcommerce.Onlyafewyearsearlier,theUSNOinWashington,DC,hadbuilt
theirofficialt imeball,whichdroppedatnooneverydaytosignalthetimetosailorsandcitizens.President
TappanpersuadedwealthyDetroitmerchantstosponsorconstructionofthecampusobservatorytoprovide
timekeepingfortheMichiganCentralRailroad.Thiswouldguaranteeaccuraterailroadoperationuponwhich
themerchants'businessesdepended,andthefacilitywasnamedtheDetroitObservatoryforthem.
Figure3:ThetimeballattheUSNavalObservatoryinWashingtonDC.
TheM
eridianCircleTelescopeisdesignedtoaccuratelymeasurethe
siderealtime.Theastronomersconfirmedthesiderealtimeeverynight
(weatherpermitting),andtheycouldthenconvertittosolarandcivil
time.AsignalwassentbytelegraphtotheMichiganCentralRailroad
terminalinDetroit,andfromthere,itwasforwardedtoalltheother
connectingterminals.Asaninterestingsidenote,Whenthe
Observatorywasbuilt,thecityofAnnArborhaditsowntimekeeping,
whichwashalfanhourdifferentfromtheUniversitytime.
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InadditiontotheMeridianCircleTelescope,theDetroitObservatoryishometoageneralpurposeinstrument,
the12.6inchHenryFitzTelescope.HenryFitz,Jr.wastheearliestAmericantomanufacturetelescopes
commercially,andtheUMtelescopeistheonlyremainingFitztelescopethatisisoperationalwithitsoriginal
optics.Whenitwasconstructedin1854,thistelescopewasamongthebestintheworld.DetroitObservatory
wasthefirst,flagshipresearchfacilityatUM,andtheFitzTelescopeservedthestudentsandfacultyasa
researchinstrument.

AdditionalResources

DetroitObservatory
NISTwebsite,A
WalkThroughTime
IDEAwebexhibit,D
aylightSavingTime
USNOmasterclocks
GettheofficialtimeandotherlinksatT
ime.gov

Copyright Regents of the University of Michigan

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