Our Astronomical Column

Abstract

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE U.S. NAVAL OBSERVATORY.—The report, for the year 1914, of the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory, is presented as Appendix No. 2 in the Annual Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, 1914. While the report itself only covers twenty pages, the contents are very concentrated, and cover a very large field of activity. The superintendent refers briefly to the distribution of time, the issue of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, the observations of sun, moon, planets, satellites, comets etc. Each of these subjects is more fully described in the subsequent paragraphs under the various sub-headings. Regarding the longitude determination between Washington and Paris by wireless signals, it is stated that the reduction of the observations is well advanced, and this will constitute the first direct determination between the Naval Observatory and Europe. Ten American observatories took advantage of the opportunity of using these signals and made the necessary observations to determine their longitudes.