Abstract
THE Astronomer Royal, in his last communication to the Royal Astronomical Society on the Transits of Venus, adverted to the injurious effect on the observations, which might possibly arise from the chromatic dispersion produced by the atmosphere, and suggested that probably an efficient corrective might be found, in the application of a glass prism of small refracting angle in the eye-piece of the telescope. In a subsequent communication on the same subject, after stating the optical theory, Mr. Airy continues:—Suppose, then, that we have a series of flint prisms ground to the angles 2°, 4°, 6°, 8°, 12°, 16°. And suppose that we use a telescope with power 120 or with power 240. Then the following table, showing the zenith distance at which the atmospheric dispersion is corrected, is easily computed; the refraction being calculated by the formula just given, and the zenith-distance corresponding to the refraction being taken from a common table of refractions:—
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Astronomy: Correction of Atmospheric Chromatic Dispersion. Nature 1, 87–88 (1869). https://doi.org/10.1038/001087a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/001087a0