Continuous declination system set up by observations of photoelectric astrolabe Mark I In Irkutsk^*

The first results of international cooperation between CSAO and VS NIIFTRI

¹ Shaanxi Astronomical Observatory, Academia Sinica (CSAO), P.O. Box 18, Lintong, Xian 710600, PR China
² Purple Mountain Observatory, Academia Sinica, Nanjing 210008, PR China
³ East-Siberean Research Institute for Physics Technical and Radio Engineering Measurements, Russia (VS NIIFTRI), 57, Borodina Str., Irkutsk 664056, Russia

Send offprint request to: Xu Jiayan

Received: 1 August 1997
Accepted: 10 November 1997

Abstract

The Photoelectric Astrolabe Mark I (PHA I) has been revised with a new combined prism which could work as an almucantar with zenith distance of , to measure continuous declinations at the latitude of Irkutsk, Russia (). The PHA I has been working at the astronomical base of VS NIIFTRI in Irkutsk since Nov. 1995 based on an international cooperation agreement of near 4 years for star catalogue and EOP measurements. The first observing program was ended in June 1997, giving corrections in both right ascension and declination to 200 stars with no blind zone in declination determination, which most astrolabe catalogues in the world usually would have.