Trento (astronomy)

A Trient (from Latin triens 'the third part' ) is a historical astronomical instrument for measuring star orbits . The Trento was set up exactly in a north-south direction and was usually made of iron. It was used to measure the height of stars at their north-south passage - i.e. the culmination point . The name 'Trient' arose due to the construction from a third of a circle (120 degree arc). The Renaissance scholar Peter Apian is considered to be the inventor of Trent .

A Trient was used, for example, in the Eimmart observatory at Nuremberg Castle . Here it was created by Johann Ludtring in 1687 and had a radius of almost five meters (16 feet).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Karl Ernst Georges : Comprehensive Latin-German concise dictionary . 8th, improved and increased edition. Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 1918 ( zeno.org [accessed on March 13, 2019]).
2. ↑ F. Seck (Ed.): On the 400th birthday of Wilhelm Schickard: Second Tübingen Schickard Symposium, June 25-27, 1992 , Sigmaringen: Thorbecke 1995, p. 209
3. ↑ Historical illustration of Trient in Nuremberg , accessed March 22, 2009, 4:00 p.m.