vertical circle

vertical circle

A great circle on the celestial sphere that passes through an observer's zenith and cuts the horizon at right angles.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

vertical circle

[′vərd·ə·kəl ′sər·kəl]

(astronomy)

A great circle of the celestial sphere, through the zenith and nadir of the celestial sphere; vertical circles are perpendicular to the horizon.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

vertical circle

A graduated disk mounted on an instrument in such a manner that the plane of its graduated surface can be placed in a vertical plane.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

vertical circle

A great circle of the celestial sphere passing through the celestial poles as well as the observer's zenith and nadir. Vertical circles are per-pendicular to the horizon. The prime vertical circle, or the prime vertical, passes through the east and west points of the horizon. The principal vertical circle passes through the north and south points of the horizon and coincides with the celestial meridian.

An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Vertical Circle

 

an astronomical instrument for determining by observation the zenith angles of heavenly bodies, which serve as material for calculating their declination, as well as the geographic coordinates of the place of observation. The optical tube of the instrument for sighting the heavenly body can rotate around a horizontal axis. An accurately divided circle placed on this same axis serves to measure the vertical angles. The entire instrument can be set in any vertical by rotating it around the vertical axis; how-ever, the vertical circle is usually used for observation in the meridian. Observations with the vertical circle are conducted mainly when compiling absolute catalogs of declinations of stars. The idea of the vertical circle was proposed in the 19th century by V. Ia. Struve, the founder of the Pulkovo Observatory. The first vertical circle was set up at Pulkovo in 1839. A photographic vertical circle with a largely automated observation process was built at the Pulkovo Observatory in 1962.

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Vertical Circle

 

a large circle of the celestial sphere passing through the zenith and nadir of the place of observation and a given point on the celestial sphere. The vertical circle that passes through the north and south points coincides with the celestial meridian. The vertical circle that passes through the east and west points is called the prime vertical.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.