Tokyo Photoelectric Meridian Circle
Encyclopedia
The Tokyo Photoelectric Meridian Circle is a meridian circle that observes and records the positions of stars and planets, which are then reported in the PMC catalogs.
at the Mitaka campus of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
(formerly of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory) in Tokyo
, Japan
. It was manufactured by Carl Zeiss Oberkochen, Germany, and installed in Mitaka in 1982. The telescope is equipped with a double-slit photoelectric micrometer, a photomultiplier with a photon counting device, and a set of filters.
Systematic observations with the PMC began in December 1985 for about 33,000 stars selected from several source catalogs. The results of the observations were divided into sequential groups according to the observation years and reduced into a corresponding annual catalog. Each annual catalog contains the positions of several thousand stars. All of the annual catalogs published up to 1993 are available on request in machine-readable form, either directly from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan or from the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg
(CDS).
Meridian circle
The Tokyo Photoelectric Meridian Circle is a fully automated photoelectric meridian circleMeridian circle
The meridian circle, transit circle, or transit telescope is an instrument for observing the time of stars passing the meridian, at the same time measuring its angular distance from the zenith...
at the Mitaka campus of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
The is an astronomical research organisation comprising several facilities in Japan, as well as an observatory in Hawaii. It was established in 1988 as an amalgamation of three existing research organizations - the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory of the University of Tokyo, International Latitude...
(formerly of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory) in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It was manufactured by Carl Zeiss Oberkochen, Germany, and installed in Mitaka in 1982. The telescope is equipped with a double-slit photoelectric micrometer, a photomultiplier with a photon counting device, and a set of filters.
Systematic observations with the PMC began in December 1985 for about 33,000 stars selected from several source catalogs. The results of the observations were divided into sequential groups according to the observation years and reduced into a corresponding annual catalog. Each annual catalog contains the positions of several thousand stars. All of the annual catalogs published up to 1993 are available on request in machine-readable form, either directly from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan or from the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg
Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg
The Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg is a data hub which collects and distributes astronomical information. It was established in 1972 under the name Centre de Données Stellaires...
(CDS).
List of catalogs
The PMC catalogs are astronomical catalogs which report the results of observations made with the Tokyo Photoelectric Meridian Circle.- Tokyo PMC Catalog 85 (PMC85)
- Catalog of positions of 1007 stars observed in 1985
- Tokyo PMC Catalog 86 (PMC86)
- Catalog of positions of 3974 stars observed in 1986
- Tokyo PMC Catalog 87 (PMC87)
- Catalog of positions of 5748 stars observed in 1987
- Tokyo PMC Catalog 88 (PMC88)
- Catalog of positions of 3800 stars observed in 1988 and planetary positions observed in 1986 to 1988
- Tokyo PMC Catalog 89 (PMC89)
- Catalog of positions of 3866 stars observed in 1989
- Tokyo PMC Catalog 90-93 (PMC90-93)