Coelostat (redirected from coelostats)

coelostat [′sē·lə‚stat]

(engineering)

A device consisting of a clockwork-driven mirror that enables a fixed telescope to continuously keep the same region of the sky in its field of view.

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Coelostat 

an auxiliary astronomical instrument with a flat rotating mirror that makes it possible to observe celestial bodies moving as a result of the apparent diurnal rotation of the celestial sphere by means of stationary instruments, such as horizontal and solar tower telescopes.

Figure 1. Diagram of a coelostat

A flat mirror M (see Figure 1) is fixed to the OO axis, which is parallel to the plane of the mirror and to the axis of the earth. The coelostat’s axis is rotated by a clockwork mechanism C at a rate of one rotation per 48 hours (solar or stellar time, depending on whether the sun or stars are being observed). By virtue of the design, the normal to the mirror slides along the celestial equator, while the direction of the reflected ray of a celestial body remains fixed. By turning the mirror about its axis, the reflected ray of the celestial object with declination δ can be directed at any point of the parallel with declination – δ. The horizontal direction, which is different for bodies of different declinations, proves to be most convenient. Introducing an additional fixed flat mirror makes it possible to direct in any direction a ray reflected from the coelostat’s mirror.

The image produced by a coelostat does not rotate (in its plane), which is an advantage over heliostats and siderostats, of whose design the coelostat is an improvement.