coelostat

(ˈsiːləˌstæt)

(Astronomy) an astronomical instrument consisting of a plane mirror mounted parallel to the earth's axis and rotated about this axis once every two days so that light from a celestial body, esp the sun, is reflected onto a second mirror, which reflects the beam into a telescope. Compare siderostat

[C19 coelo-, from Latin caelum heaven, sky + -stat]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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Noun

coelostat - optical device used to follow the path of a celestial body and reflect its light into a telescope; has a movable and a fixed mirror

optical device - a device for producing or controlling light

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References in periodicals archive

At Boyden Observatory near Bloemfontein, there is a 20-cm coelostat with instrumentation for making narrow-band Ha observations.

The Sun

Caption: SUN SPOTTING The Snow horizontal telescope (coelostat) was a gift to Yerkes Observatory from Helen E.

A Crowded Life: A curious mind and an inventive spirit helped George Ellery Hale transform modern astronomy

Between 1890 and 1903 Common made several attempts to convert the five-foot to a Cassegrain with inconclusive results, built a coelostat which Turner took to eclipses in Japan (1896) and India (1898), and joined the RAS/BAA expedition to the Norway solar eclipse.

Ordinary Meeting & Christmas Lecture, 2010 December 11: held at the Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London WI

A coelostat is an instrument used in which branch of science?

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