MEASUREMENT OF ERRORS IN MANUALLY RECORDING TRANSIT TIMES OF STARS AND DISTANT PLANETS

摘要

An experimental investigation has been conducted to determine the accuracy with which celestial-body-transit times can be manually recorded. This investigation determined the effects on the timing-error variance of both celestial-body size and the apparent rate of motion of the celestial body through the observer's field of view. The celestial bodies simulated were Jupiter (as seen through a 12-power telescope of 2-inch aperture) and a first-magnitude star (as seen through a 60-power telescope of 2-inch aperture). The apparent rates of ° motion simulated varied between 56° and 224° per minute. Also an observer's ability to measure the time interval between successive body transits was determined.