This meridian circle was installed in the new observatory at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1865, and used by Maria Mitchell, her students, and successors. An inscription reads "Wm. J. Young Philadelphia, Pa." The telescope has a clear aperture of 4 inches, and a focal length of 5 feet. The circles at either end of the axis measure 30 inches in diameter. One is finely graduated to 3" of arc, and read by vernier; the other is used simply as a finder. Vassar College donated this instrument to the Smithsonian in 1980, along with the observer's couch and the apparatus used to reverse the telescope.
D. J. Warner, "William J. Young: From Craft to Industry in a Skilled Trade," Pennsylvania History 52 (1985): 53-68.
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