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Kremsmünster Monastery
Kremsmünster is a town in Kirchdorf an der Krems District, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Settled in 777, it is home to the Kremsmünster Abbey. The Abbey was founded 777 by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and is one of the oldest abbeys of central Europe. On a striking ice-age terrace above the town, it dominates the whole Krems valley. The monks ( Order of Saint Benedict), lead a famous gymnasium which has existed since 1549, and an astronomical and geophysical observatory ("Mathematical tower"). The First Slovak Republic ceased to exist here when the exiled Slovak government capitulated to General Walton Walker leading the XX Corps of the 3rd US Army on 8 May 1945. Science and culture Kremsmünster is a traditional place of culture, astronomy and natural science. For instance, Placidus Fixlmillner (1721–1791), the first astronomer to compute the orbit of Uranus, was born and lived in Kremsmünster. The observation tower itself (built 1749–1756) represents the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous city and state. A landlocked country, Austria is bordered by Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The country occupies an area of and has a population of 9 million. Austria emerged from the remnants of the Eastern and Hungarian March at the end of the first millennium. Originally a margraviate of Bavaria, it developed into a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire in 1156 and was later made an archduchy in 1453. In the 16th century, Vienna began serving as the empire's administrative capital and Austria thus became the heartland of the Habsburg monarchy. After the dissolution of the H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Historically, observatories were as simple as containing an astronomical sextant (for measuring the distance between stars) or Stonehenge (which has some alignments on astronomical phenomena). Astronomical observatories Astronomical observatories are mainly divided into four categories: space-based, airborne, ground-based, and underground-based. Ground-based observatories Ground-based observatories, located on the surface of Earth, are used to make observations in the radio and visible light portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Most optical telescopes are housed within a dome or similar structure, to protect the delicate instruments from the elements. Telescope domes have a slit or other opening in the roof that can be opened during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meridian Arc
In geodesy and navigation, a meridian arc is the curve between two points on the Earth's surface having the same longitude. The term may refer either to a segment of the meridian, or to its length. The purpose of measuring meridian arcs is to determine a figure of the Earth. One or more measurements of meridian arcs can be used to infer the shape of the reference ellipsoid that best approximates the geoid in the region of the measurements. Measurements of meridian arcs at several latitudes along many meridians around the world can be combined in order to approximate a ''geocentric ellipsoid'' intended to fit the entire world. The earliest determinations of the size of a spherical Earth required a single arc. Accurate survey work beginning in the 19th century required several arc measurements in the region the survey was to be conducted, leading to a proliferation of reference ellipsoids around the world. The latest determinations use astro-geodetic measurements and the methods of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Observation Tower
An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, and wood. Many modern towers are also used as TV towers, restaurants, or churches. The towers first appeared in the ancient world, as long ago as the Babylonian Empire. Observation towers that are used as guard posts or observation posts over an extended period to overlook an area are commonly called watchtowers instead. Construction and usage Observation towers are an easily visible sight on the countryside, as they must rise over trees and other obstacles to ensure clear vision. Older control rooms have often been likened to medieval chambers. The heavy use of stone, iron, and wood in their construction helps to create this illusion. Modern towers frequently have observation decks or terraces with restaurants or on the roof of mountain st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Survey
A national mapping agency is an organisation, usually publicly owned, that produces topographic maps and geographic data, geographic information of a country. Some national mapping agencies also deal with cadastre, cadastral matters. According to 2007/2/EC Directive (European Union), European directive, national mapping agencies of European Union countries must have publicly available services for searching, viewing and downloading their spatial data. Maps produced by some of them are available under a free license that allows re-use, such as a Creative Commons license, Creative Commons license. History Ordnance Survey The first national mapping agency was the Ordnance Survey in the United Kingdom; its roots go back to 1747, when the compilation of a map of the Scottish Highlands was proposed. This survey at a scale of 1 inch to 1000 yards (1:36,000) was the starting point of the Principal Triangulation of Great Britain (1783–1853), and led to the creation of the Ordnance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fundamental Point
The term fundamental station is used for special observatories which combine several space positioning techniques like VLBI, satellite laser ranging, GPS, Glonass, etc. They are the basis of plate tectonic analysis, allowing the monitoring of continental drift rates with millimetre accuracies. A fundamental point is the geometric origin of a geodetic network and defines the geodetic datum of a national survey. Some fundamental stations are an astronomical or satellite geodetic observatory. In any case, the geographic latitude and longitude of the station is precisely determined by methods of astrogeodesy and is chosen as ellipsoidal latitude and longitude at the Earth ellipsoid which is used to calculate the coordinates of the whole network. Also, precise azimuths to one or two network points are observed, and are taken over as orientated directions of these network lines. By these procedure, the polar axis of the reference ellipsoid becomes parallel to the Earth rotatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War and was dissolved shortly after its defeat in the First World War. Austria-Hungary was ruled by the House of Habsburg and constituted the last phase in the constitutional evolution of the Habsburg monarchy. It was a multinational state and one of Europe's major powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at and the third-most populous (after Russia and the German Empire). The Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry in the world, after the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. Austria-Hungary also became the world's third-largest manufacturer and exporter of electric home appliances, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weather Station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation amounts. Wind measurements are taken with as few other obstructions as possible, while temperature and humidity measurements are kept free from direct solar radiation, or insolation. Manual observations are taken at least once daily, while automated measurements are taken at least once an hour. Weather conditions out at sea are taken by ships and buoys, which measure slightly different meteorological quantities such as sea surface temperature (SST), wave height, and wave period. Drifting weather buoys outnumber their moored versions by a significant amount. Weather instruments Typical weather stations have the following instruments: * Thermometer for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Placidus Fixlmillner
Dom Placidus Fixlmillner, O.S.B., (May 28, 1721 – August 27, 1791) was a Benedictine monk and priest and was one of the first astronomers to compute the orbit of Uranus. Biography Born in the village of Achleuthen Schloss Achleiten bei Limbach (de) near Kremsmünster, Austria, Fixlmillner was educated in Salzburg, where he displayed an aptitude in mathematics. At the age of 16, he joined the Benedictine monks of Kremsmünster Abbey, where his uncle was the abbot. In 1756 he published a small non-astronomical treatise entitled ''Reipublicæ sacræ origines divinæ'' which was interrupted in 1761 when he returned to studying the transit of Venus. He was appointed director of an observatory at the abbey, which had been established by his uncle. He continued in charge of the observatory until his death. Outside astronomy, he was in charge of the college connected with the abbey and acted as professor of canon law. He was honoured by the Holy See with the office of Notary Aposto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest include planets, natural satellite, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxy, galaxies, and comets. Relevant phenomena include supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, astronomy studies everything that originates beyond atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere. Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that studies the universe as a whole. Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences. The early civilizations in recorded history made methodical observations of the night sky. These include the Babylonian astronomy, Babylonians, Greek astronomy, Greeks, Indian astronomy, Indians, Egyptian astronomy, Egyptians, Chinese astronomy, Chinese, Maya civilization, Maya, and many anc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
