Viatar in htromq, 1977.Vol 21, PP. 93-106.PergaaPnPrese.Printedin Great Britain.

OBSERVATIONS OF PLANETS WITH

THE DANJON ASTROLABE

Suzanne DCbarbat

Observatoire de Paris

It is generally thought that the dynamics of the Solar System are very well
known, therefore it does not seem necessary to continue observations in this
fleld. Maybe this is the reason why, despite their increasing interest for
astronomy in general, and for planets in particular, the numbt=r of
observations of position for such objects is continuously decreasing.

But, at the time of launching spacecraft in the direction of the solar system
objects, their poeltion is needed as precisely as possible. Also the
objectives can have short or long term purposes,dependlng on the object
Itself. Very often a period of a few years is not long enough in this
field where motions are so slow in respect to the human scale.

On the need for planetary observations

Launching spacecraft is one of the problem8 of the moment and each time the
mnount of data obtained is considerable. So, why is it always necessary to
observe the position of the planets from the Earth' The reason is very
precisely due to the launchings themselves. If we know with the greatest
accuracy the relative position between our planet and another one it will be
easier to pass by and the amount of energy to correct the trajectory will be
smaller.

For such purposes, ephemerides are established based on numerical integration.

They are calculated by use of all the available data,obviously with a very
high weight for the recent ones. They are recalculated whenever a new set
of observations is available. But such ephemerides are accurate only when
they cover arcs of trajectory as long as possible.

Very different are the ephemerides calculated from general theories either
for one or more planets. For such theories, observations over very long
period8 of time are needed. Generally, all the available data are used with
a criterion which is, in many cases, related to the credit given to the
Instrument, the method of computation, the estimated errors in the resulting
values, but in all cases it is neces8ary to recompute the observation8 in
order to make them a8 homogeneous as possible. It become8 clear that we
need slmultanooualy new theories and new observations. In thin cage, neu

93
9.5 S. &barbat

ooservdtlonb are botn oIa ones renewed In a new mouern nomogeneous system
arrdwnat one ccula usually L,~LA modern 0Lservatlons.

before looklnd at tne motlvatlons for ;aodern ooservatlons, It is necessary to

conslaer tne fundamental alfference between theory and observations. If the
work on tneory 1s stopped or Interrupted, time is lost but tnat 1s all. c)ut
as far as ooservatlons <are concerned, the case 1s very different: 1t 1s
lmposslole to repe,>t tne posltlonal ooservatlon of a celestial oody ana the
ooservatlon 1s lost for ever.

An example of ttle relation oetween past observations and present work can be
found In the launcnlng of spacecraft rnrougn the Guplter System, close to the
ialliean satellites. Several groups of people working on tne theoretical
field are studying tne dynamical problems of this system; tneir tneories are
running on, but several constants related to the motion are poorly
uetermlned. Very precise ooservatlons would be necessary to establish the
valldlty of the tneoretlcal resusts. unfortunately, there are very olg
gaps in tne observdtlons of the ualllean satelllres. lnese gaps in the
series of otsrrvations are prooably aue to the fact tnat observers nave not
recognizea tne importance of tne contlnuatlon of observations and have not
known for what purpose tney would oe used.

dut the interest of observations of solar system oo,)ects is not reStrICted to

tne purposes of epnemeredis tnemselves. I-osltional astronomy, very often
called astrometry, is tne basis of different fields of astronomy In general.
lne iunaamental deference System, at the moment the kK4, wnicn will become
the FK5,from the Astronomisches ttechen-lnstltut,ls the necessary Intermediate
to solve different proolems of general interest. The establisnment of such
systems is basea on compilation of star catalogues,observatlons of the Sun and
Planets. As tnis system 1s referred to the equator and the ecliptic It. 1s
very Import&t to know the motion of tne Earth, Sun and pianets, and Its
improvements are very useful for the study of many proolems, such as stellar
paraliaxes ana proper motions, dCCLXate values for pulsars and so on, the
fundamental reason oelng that the measurements are made from the Eartn.

Ii the motion of the tarth is known with tne greatest accuracy, this
Knowledge may ledd to knowledge of the evoiutlon of tne Earth-Moon system,
to the evolution of the Solar System as a wnole and to tne evolution of the
Universe.

On the means of RettiM planetary obaervations

At the moment, positional observations are needed, as numerous and a8 precise

as possible; but there appears to oe only a few people willing to do them
(Eichhorn 1974, preface).

The classical instrument for this purpose 1s the meridian circle for which
the right ascension is referred to tne Sun, and declination determined from
 Obrervotlonr of Planeervith theDanJonAscrolabe 95

the zenith aratance of tne ObJect and the latitude of the statlon. The
meridian circle I3 affected by very well-known errors, Some of them, such
a3 circle errors, are due to the principle of the Instrument. Others are
coamon to all type3 of astronomical Instrument, such a3 flexure, temperature
effects, refraction anomalies, and 30 on.

Another claaaical Instrument 13 tne astrograph, Used with photographic

plate3 for the solar system objects It gives a picture of the object on a
stellar field and It Is easy to get several plates. But, on eacn plate,
there are only a few, and In 3ome ca383, a very few stars from the
fundamental catalogue. The connectlon with this system I3 generally made
through faint stars whose place3 are not very well Known. Nevertheless the
contribution of the astrograph to the knowledge of objects of the Solar
system 13 very Important, the most Important berng, perhaps, In the case of
the Jupiter system.

Among the objects of the Solar system, the case of the Moon I3 a particular
one. The reflectors that have been placed on Its surface are very Important
and are able to give, with very great accuracy, the relative motion between
the Earth and the Moon. But to refer back to the fundamental Keference
System, astrometric observations are still needed.

Until the beginning of the past decade, the meridian circle and the
astrograph were the only Instruments for positional observation3 of the Sun,
the Moon, the planet3 and their satellrtes. But, besides these two
Instruments, another Instrument, very different from tne point of view of
possibilities, AS gaining IncreasIng Importance In astronomy. It 13 the
astrolabe deslgned by DanJOn, after Claude and ul'lencourt,ana recently
improved by Billaud and CLunot. This instrument will perhaps be able to
provide a great amount of the observations needed An our times. This I3
particularly true since many old-fashioned merrdian circles have been
dismantled and, although one knows how a modern meridian circle should be
equippea, It will certainly take quite 3ome time until modern development
become3 effective. On the other nand we now need uninterrupted sequences.
Of course, It would be the best if, simultaneously, Instruments of different
type3 were In operation.

This astrolabe Is well known, but perhaps a few dates would be of Interest
to place the Instrument In context.
194647 Danjon make3 new experiments with his prismatic astrolabe, the first
one3 made after the early tests made In Strasbourg, based on the Claude and
Driencourt lnatrument, before the second world war.
E (October) A prototype made by the workshop of the Parie Observatory is
set up In current use for the determination of time and latitude. The
astrolabe I3 corrected for the optical defect due to the error resulting
froa the images being displaced when the position of the eye-piece wa3
slightly changed. With the double Wollaston prism the astrolabe alao
become3 Impersonal, meaning that It was equipped with an Impersonal
micrometer giving twenty or twenty-four ticks instead of a single value for
96 S. tibarbat

each star (Dan;on 1054;.

u (July) The prototype of an industrial series is installed in current
use at the Paris Observatory (Danjon 1958). Groups of 28 stars are
observed and reduced using the method of equal altitudes devised by Gauss at
tne beginning of the past century. About one nundred and fifty years
separate the solution of Gauss from its application to problems of
fundamental astronomy. Under the most favourable atmospheric conditions,
the OPL astrolabe, now called the DanJob astrolabe, permits the transit of a
star to be recorded with an accuracy of + 0".09, standard deviation,
assuming that errors of the catalogue haye been corrected. The deviation
increases with atmospheric scintillation, and its most frequent value is
+ On.17 (Cuinot 1958).
lprz (1st July) - m (31st December) and 1959: Several Danjon nstrolabes
are in use during the international Geophysical Year and the International
Geophysical Cooperation.
1961 The first astrolabe catalome (Cuinot, De)arbat, Krieger-Fiel,l961),
a non-absolute one in terms of the meridian circle, is published. It gives
the resulting values for 571 stars from the FK4 and FK4 supp. The accuracy
with which the corrections to right ascension are determined is 05305 for
more than 80% of the stars; the corrections to declination are determined at
the accuracy of On.07 for at least 75% of the stars,

Experimental observations of Mars are made at the Paris Observatory.

m First systematic campaizor in Besancon, Paris and Algiers.
The accuracy of the campaign appears to be of the order of On.07 or 0".08.
First campaign for Vesta and ilranus in Algiers.
1964 First campaign for the <Jupiter system at Quito , planet and Calllean
satellites.
1965-1966 The Jupiter system can be observed from our latitudes. Jupiter
is observed at Besancon and Paris, its Calilean satellites at the Haute-
Provence astrolabe station.
1966-1967 Second Jupiter campaign, the last one for this period, at
Besancon and Paris. The accuracy for the campaigns appears to be in the
order of 0'*.07 or 0*.08.
m First campaign for --
Saturn at Quito.
1968 Second campaign for --
SatlPn at Quito.
m (September). The full pupil astrolabe (Blllaud and Cuinot 1971) is set
up in current use at the Paris Observatory. This instrument is an
improvement of the Danjon astrolabe in two ways. First, the full pupil is
used by each beam of light. Second, the stability of the zenith distance,
which is fundamental in the method of equal altitudes, is more secure. The
stability of the equilateral prism of the Danjon astrolabe was recognized to
be stable to the first order and, to improve it, a Cervit optical square is
used in the full pupil astrolabe. From the point of view of the accuracy,
the weight of groups, observed with this new aatrolabe, is increased by a
factor 1.2 (mean value relative to observed groups with a Danjon aatrolabe).
 Observations of Planets vith the Danjon b,trolabe 97

190-191 First campaign for Saturn in San Fernando.

From that year, Saturn is observed each winter at Paris and San Fernando;
this is possible until the winter 1975-1976 for the Paris astrolabe. But
Jupiter will become observable, at the Paris latitude, during the 1976-77
winter. bring the time a planet is to be observed in the northern
hemisphere, it cannot be in the southern one and campaigns have been
successively made in Sao Paulo (Mars, Uranus...) or ere in progress at
Santiago de Chile (Jupiter), for example. The Quito obervatory has a very
suitable position on the equator for the solar system obJects which are
regularly observed from the beginning of the more systematic campaigns.

From these data and facts it is easily seen that the basic objectives of the
astrolabe have been enlarged during the past two decades. kiter the
determination of time and latitude which was the fundamental use of this
instrument, it has been shown that it was possible to give accurate places
for stars. Besides this, planets with atar-like Images or even having an
apparent diameter were observed without any difficulty, even in the complex
c@se of Saturn (aspect of the two images can be seen in Dbbarbat and al.1975 1;
Galllean satellites have also been observed (Chollet and De)barbat 1974,
Davil$, Ddbarbat and Journet 1975).

On the particular interest of planetary observations by the astrolabe

Due to the basic use of the astrolabe, many of them are operated for the
Bureau International de 1’Heure and the International Polar Motion Service.
At present, space techniques are able to give the polar motion with a greater
accuracy, but nothing in the very near future appeara to be able to give UT;
and UT1 la needed, for example, in the case of apace research. It la one
of the reasona why the observations made with astrolabes, as well aa those
made with PZT, cannot be immediately atopped. Consequently, their
simultaneous use for planets would allow new sets of observations and
therefore compensate for the loss in thia field due to the problem of
meridian circles, whose number is decreasing in the world.

But, compared with meridian circles, the astrolaba has both advantages and
disadvantages (Dgbarbat and Culnot 1970). Among the advantages it can be
noted that for the observation of a determined object one needs only to
include it in the current programs for the Bureau International da1’Heure
and the International Polar Motion Service. Among the disadvantages, It
can be noted that the corrections& and A& are obtained after two transits
(east and west) through the altitude circle. But these corrections are
calculated both with reference to fundamental stars and to the solution in
time, latitude and zenith distance given by the ame set of fundemental Starr.
The two correctlona, in right ascension and in declination, are not
separated because they come from the solution of two equations into which
are introduced the times of the tvo transita.
90 S. D&barbet

The method to gethrLandA$ is therefore completely different from the one in

use for the meridian circle. With the meridian circle, they are determined
entirely separately: the first correction is deduced from the transit time
through the meridian plane; the second one comes, mainly, from the readings
of the circle. So the comparison between astrolabe and meridian
observations Is of great importance to separate, for instance, instrumental
effects. The best meridian circle in the world for planetary observations
is probably the Six Inch Transit Circle operating at the U.S. Naval
Observatory.

It Is the reason that this Instrument appears In the comparison of

observations of Jupiter made during the winter 1966-67.

^t
ma?ER

bb
l *

.
..----_
.
.

errm.“.

.
__

..v.W~O.
-
-1_____.J_---

--
.
. .
.: __--
I
.

.I',
t

Figure 1 The full line is the smooth curve for the astrolabe (Besancon and
Paris). The positions are from the American Ephemeris.

Unfortunately the results of the Herstmonccaux meridian circle are not yet
published, but a third type of instrument is compared with the meridian circle
and the astrolabe: the astrograph from the Bordeaux Ubservatory. For
approximately the same nmber of observations, it is seen (D&arbat and
Pgquet 1973) that the discrepancy between the smoothing curves, of the order
of 01'.05,is smaller than the accuracy of each instrument, which varies from
Ofi. to O".ll, the mean value being approximately 0".07 or O".OS. But,
I'oreach Inatrmnent, a few points are aurpriaing and not explained.

Another point has to be noted related to decllnatlon and right ascension

determined by the astrolabe. In the case of the declination there is an
error which is a function of the cosine of the declination. For planets,
CO8 6 is not very different from the value 1 and the error looks like a
constant. For this coordinate Krejnin has shown that absolute declination
could be obtained from observations at different zenith distances. This
will be the case with the two optical squares that observers will have in
the future on the full pupil astrolabe. In the case of the right ascension
 Observations of Planet8 vlth the Danjon Astrolabe 99

their origin , which is the equinox, cannot be directly relatec.to We

observations of the Sun.

This relation would be made indirectly through the planetary observations,

but the problem will perhaps have a direct solution if the experiments on
the Sun, made by Laclare at the Cerga, in 1974, are confirmed in the future.
Laclarc used a chrome-nickel filter in order t3 get, for the Sun, an
apparent magnitude which is about the magnitude of the Moon. The dispersion
of the residuals (Laclare 1975) is of the same order as the one usuall)
given by other instr\rments. Unfortunately no observations of the Sun have
yet been published for this time. So no ccmparieon has been made for the
moment, and the problem has to be studiec theoretically. During 1975
another set of preliminary results has been obtained ant!a re+ campaign is
running on the 1976 summer observations.

Some conclusions
----
Very powerful for the determination of time and latitude, the astrolabe,
after only a few years, has shown thet it is powerful too for the -letel*tion
of positional errors of the fundamental stars. It noliappears to be a
perfectly suited instrument for the study of solar system objects.
Nevertheless difficulties and problems still exi8t, as has been noted above.
Another point is that the best accwacy that can be determined 1s a
combination of the latitude of the station and tit deciinatlon of the object.
.90

060

-30

-10

-60

Figure 2 Curves of equal accuracy in right ascension (&cosd 1. The

maxim- aacuracy is on the central curve and, respectively, g/10,
8/10, 3/4, 2/3, l/2, l/3 and the limit for observations at a given
latltanlo.
 S. DGbarbat

For a given latitude, two zones, one close to the equator, trlcother one near
the pole, grve the same accuracy (figures ? a..~!
,?). This clrc*mstance is due
to the equal altitude fietnozCmd 1s therefore characteristic of the astrolatx
observations. So, for the right ascension, tre 7,,xixr2 accuracy of &cosS
occ*urswhen the aeclination of the object h?s the same value as the latitude
of the station. In this c?ce, +he declination is determine4 *Iiththe minimum
accuracy. In the two cases the accuracy is decre-sing cr ircreasing on each
side of the c'L-vewhicn gives the maxlnur or the r.Jnlmum accuracy. In the
case cf solar system obJects the on?7 possibility is to observe between
llcitc 1 -.ich are about + 25’ in declin. tlon.
.9c

.60

.30

IO

60

-90

Fiuure 2 Curves of equal accuracy in declination (a& ). The maxim-

accuracy is on the border and, respectively, g/10, 8/10, 3/4, 2/3,
L!?, l/3 and the limit for suitable observations for a given
latitude.
For these various reasons, the astrolabe, in competition with the meridian
circles, cannot completely replace them and also, one jn.ctrumentalone is
unable to give the maximum accuracy which can be obtained from the principles
of the Gauss method. The only possibility is to combine observations from
stations of different latitudes. This point of the accuracy depending on
the latitude can be seen from the Uranus results (Phm Van 1971): the
dispersion is small (five 41 for one of the two coordinates. For Quito
the observations were close to the maximum accuracy in right ascension and
the minimum accuracy in declination (as seen from figures 2 and 3, where the
conditions of observations in Algiers and Quito are reported for the year
1964).
 Observatlone of Planets vrth the Danjon Astrolabe 101

0
00

0.0
b
%
&tdiAA, *AA
AA l
4 AA l l l
-co

Figure 4 Observations of Uranus with the Danjon Aetrolabe (C)Quito,+ Algier)

and the 6-inch Transit Circle (DWashington) during the 1964
campdgn. The positions are fnm the American Ephemeris.
For all these reasons an LAU resolution was made about ten year8 ago to the
effect that a chain of astrolabes should be established over various
latitudes, but the aim has not yet been completely achieved. About ten
astrolabes have been in use in the northern hemisphere and only a few are
operated in the southern hemisphere. For such astrolabes, in use for the
Bureau Internationalde 1'Heure and the International Polar Motion Service,
it wouldnotbe too difficult to observe at the same time stars for the
determination of time and latitude and catalogue errors, and also solar
system ob3ects. Many people, among them Professor Frlcke of the
Aatronomlsches Rechen-Institut,Dr. Wilkins of the Nautical Almanac Office,
Dr. Ixlncoebeof the American Ephemeris Office, Dr. Zverev of Leningrad, and,
when he was still alive, Professor DanJon, have said often that it is Still
necessary to observe fundamental obJecta (see, for instance, Wilkins 1969,
Fricke 1972).

Observations issues fracPvarious astrolabes, selected for their results in

declination and right ascension, would be able to produce quite a lot of
resulta, and so they vould be added to those from meridian circles and
astrographa. All these observations have to be used to redetermine the
constant8 of the Solar system, mainly masses, but also for the purpo8e of
critical studies of theories. The observations of Mars in 1%3 are an
example of such a posaibillty.
102 S. dbarbat

Figure 5 - Observations of Mars during the 1963 campaign. The positions

are from tne American Ephemeris.
A ctnnparison(Lbarbat 19bC))has been made (FiKure 5) between observations,
the knerrcan Ephemeris and the ephemerides by lhncombe after the theory of
Clemence. There 1s a very good agreement in right ascension for the new
tneory, while rn declination there 1s still, for this period, a systematic
difference. This difference is seen both from the meridian circle and the
astrolabe (finure 6).
I I I
,,.,l., ",I. A.,@,

.dlO
_ __-------______ AE
_---
*- c---_ M
. A/E#H’- ---
#C w -
0 -

Aa

6b

FI*tlOt Y.,, A.,#,

1 I 1

FiRure 6 - Representation of Mars observations (meridian circle and

astrolabe) and American Cphemerls (1963 campaign). The zero
line la representative of the Duncwbe ephemerides.
 Observations of Planet. vith the Danjon htrolabc 103

Another example can be seen from the observations of Jupiter (De)barbatet

Piquet 1973) during the 1965-66, 1966-67 campaigns (Fiwas 7 and 81.

Fiuure i).
- Observations of Ju iter in right ascension (positions from the
American EphemerisP and smoothing curve. Besancon, Paris, Quito:
Astrolabe Washington: Six Inch Transit Circle, Bordeaux:
Astrographl.

Fimre 0 - Observations of J iter in declination (positions from the America

American Ephemeris
"g and spoothlng curve. Beaancon, Paris, Quito:
Astrolabe. Washlngtont Six Inch Transit Circle. Bordeaux:
Astrograph.
104 S. Dibarbat

The discrepancy with the American Ephemeris can be of the order of 0".50 and
It 1s clear that for, both instruments, the differences are well determined,
the error oeing less than O".lO. For Saturn, an example 1s given (IIa‘vila,
Gbarbat, Grudler, Sanchez 1973) on Figure 9 from the first San Fernando
campaign.

Fiuure 9 - Observations of Saturn in right ascension and declination

(positions from the American iphemeris). San Fernando: Astrolabe
Washington and Kharkov: Meridian Circles.

A small planet has also been observed with an astrolabe in Algiers (Arbey and
al; 1965) and the results are given in Figure 10,

Fiuure 10 - Cbservatlons of Vesta during the 1963 campaign. Algiers:

Astrolabe + . Washington Six Inch Transit Circle A.

So, in this short survey we have seen that we need, for various rcaaons, more
and more precise observations of planets in order to improve the Fundamental
Reference Systm by this means and to have a better knowledge of the Solar
System. This is mainly due to the necessity of improving our knowledge of
the dynamics of the planetary system. Observations made in the 19th century
are not accurate enough for the determination of long period phenomena and
 Obecrvotions of Planets vlth the Danjon Aatrolabe 105

of all kinds of secular effects with the accuracy now required. High
precision observations over small periods of time are also too few, and in
every way they will be necessary until the time we are able to replace them
by new techniques. The error we gave on Jupiter corresponds, at the
distance of this planet, to about 200 km z 400 km. This value is
interesting at a time when spacecraft are being launched in this direction.

But it appears that we are close to the limit with the present
instrmentatlon in the field of aatrcmetry. Such a limit can be seen tram
figure 11, on which there are curves of the precision for different
techniques from the beginning of the Paris Observatory (1667) up to 1967.
l'hecurves will not be changed if 0 years are added. Each time a new
technique occurs the accuracy is Improved once again. These new techniques
could be, in our clays,radioaatrometryor space astrometry. dut it seems
obvious that, at the time these new techniqws are being stualed, numerous
and accurate observations are needed and perhaps it is not too much to say
that the need 1s increasing because of a possible change tram one reference
system.

-*
-T--T--T-l- I I I I
9

If -

#. _
.#. I

____- _ _-- -- ,- - -.---__ _,_ -

.I A-L - 5 as Aeoth

Figure 11 - The precision of one observation is given (on a

logarithmic scale) as a function of the date and
type of instrument used.
106 S. Dhbarbat

REFERENCES

Arbey, L., Douzarbla, M., ibnrbat, S., Clrardin, G., 1965, Ann. fibs.
Astron. Alger, 1, Fascicule 1.
aillaua, C., Culnot, a., 1971, Astron. and Astropnys., 2, 241.
Chollet, F., Debarbat, S., 1974, C.R. Acad. Sci., Par-Is,279, 223.
~avila, I+.,Cdbarbat, S., Crudler, P., Sanchez, M., 1973, Pub. Inst.
y 00s. de Marina, s&.C, no 76.
Divila, H., i&barbat, S., Journet, A., 1975, Celestial Mechanrcs, l2,51.
Danjon, k., 1954, Bull. astron., 18, 251.
Danjon, A., 19>8, Dull. astron., 2l, 333.
De(barbat,S., 1966, Bull. Astron., ser. 3, 1, 219.
De/barbat,S., Gulnot, d., 1970, La Mgthode des Hauteurs &ales en
Astronomic, Gordon and Breach, London-Paris-New York.
Gbarbat, S., Pgquet, P., 1973, Astron. and Astrophys., 2, 329.
De/barbat,S., en collaboration avec Capitaine, N., Chollet, F.9 Chaplin,
H. Felssel, M., Journet, A., Lam, S.K., Proust, D. et Meyer, F-9 1975,
Astron ana Astrophys. Suppl., 9, 389.
Eichhorn, H., 1974, Astronomy of Star Positions, Frederick Ungar
Publishing Co., New York.
Frlcke, W., 1972, Ann. Kiev.Astron. and Astrophys., 10, 10~.
Cumot, a., 1958, auil. astron., 22, 1.
Culnot, a., i$barbat, S., Krueger-Flel, J., 1961, Bull. Astron., &307.
Laclare, F., 1975, C.H. Acad. SCI. Paris, 280, 13.
PharpVan, J., 1971, Astron. and Astrophys., l& 317.
Wilkins, G.A., 1969, N.A.O. Technical Note number 17.