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Adjusting Astronomical Practices: The “Carte du Ciel”, the democratic rules and the circulation of opinions at the end 19th century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2011

Jérôme Lamy
Jérôme Lamy*
Affiliation:
LISST, Université Toulouse II, Maison de la recherche, 5 Allées A. Machado, 31058 Toulouse Cedex 9, France email: jerome.lamy@laposte.net
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Abstract

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Launched in 1887, the “Carte du Ciel” was an international project aiming at photographing the entirety of the celestial vault. Tasks required for this huge undertaking were divided among 18 observatories around the globe. Instruments were standardized and a series of international conferences established operating modes and prescribed norms to be followed everywhere. In each observatory, however, the drive toward uniformity ran into a variety of minor technical and practical problems. In this paper, we examine the strategies mobilized by observers to tinker with stated rules and adapt them to their own experience as astronomers. To underscore the tension between normative prescriptions and individual practices, we consider the Bulletin of the Permanent International Committee for the execution of the Carte du Ciel as an informal forum where various queries raised and arrangements adopted were shared among the scientific community.

Keywords

astronomyCarte du Cielscientific practices
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Symposium S260: The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture , January 2009 , pp. 195 - 201
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

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