The Altazimuth Pavilion.

Repro ID: D3161_1

Description: The Altazimuth Pavilion was built in 1899 and is named after the special telescope originally installed in its dome. This instrument was designed to measure the two coordinates used to fix the position of a celestial body: the altitude (position above the horizon) and the azimuth (position east along the horizon). The instrument no longer survives and the dome now contains another type of telescope called a 'photoheliograph', used to observe the Sun by projecting an image of the solar disc onto a flat plate, the safest way to observe the Sun. The weather vane over the dome represents Halley's Comet as seen in the Bayeux tapestry.

Creator: National Maritime Museum

Date: unknown

Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London