Museo Galileo
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Universal theodolite
    • Setting:
      Room XIV
    • Maker:
      Repsold firm
    • Place:
      Hamburg
    • Date:
      1839
    • Materials:
      brass
    • Dimensions:
      height 635 mm, base diameter 360 mm, telescope length 360 mm
    • Inventory:
      3796
    • Universal theodolite (Inv. 3796)

This theodolite is a portable instrument, suitable for surveying and astronomical measurements. It basically consists of a telescope rotating on the horizontal and vertical axes. The angles of rotation on the horizontal axis (altitude angles) can be measured with a precision of about 1/2'. The base has three leveling screws. The construction is very rigid. For easier use, the optical design includes a total-reflection prism, which allows observations in the direction of the horizontal-rotation axis. The position circles can be read with appropriate optical systems. The instrument was used in 1913-1914 by the expedition of Filippo de Filippi in the Karakorum and also in Florence to determine the deviation of the meridian line of the church of Santa Maria del Fiore from the north-south axis. Made by Repsold.