Universal Instruments

Universal instruments are small, portable devices that allow you to read the angles not only in the horizontal plane but also in the vertical plane on engraved scales. Unlike the meridian circle and the zenith telescope, they can therefore be used to measure the positions of stars and planets across the entire sky and not just in their southernmost position.

Universal instruments are related to the more robust and even smaller theodolites, which are now also used together with laser distance measurement for earth observations.

The two universal instruments, built by the Viennese company Starke & Kammerer, are, like the meridian circle and the zenith telescope, tools of millennia-old classical astronomy, also known as positional astronomy. It deals with the measurement and calculation of the position and movements of celestial bodies, but cannot make any statements about the nature of the stars and planets.

This only became possible after 1860 with the invention of photography and spectroscopy. As a result, instruments that could handle these new techniques - such as the 40 cm telescope in this observatory - became increasingly important.