Thomas Jefferson Papers
Documents filtered by: Author="Jefferson, Thomas" AND Period="Madison Presidency" AND Period="Madison Presidency"
sorted by: date (descending)
Permanent link for this document:
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-09-02-0271
Note: this document has content that may require expanded/print view for best results (icons above right)

Thomas Jefferson’s Observations for Calculating the Latitude of Monticello, 30 January–4 February 1816

Observations for Calculating the Latitude of Monticello

1816. Jan. 30 Jan. 31. Feb. 3 Feb. 4.
Observed altitude
  error of instrumt		  68–28–30  68–56– 0  70–39–30  ☉’s
semidiam.
here
&
hereafter		 70–39–30 
 true observd alt.        
 − refrn + parallax        
true alt. of ☉’s center        
☉’s decln Greenwich        
 − Monticello        
true height of Equator        
Zenith dist. = Lat.         
pocket sextant1  68–24–30.   68–23–30    70–39– 0 

MS (MHi); filed with TJ’s Weather Memorandum Book, 1802–16; written entirely in TJ’s hand on one side of a single sheet of paper, forming a grid with four rows and six columns.

1. TJ repeated these headings in the second row, but he left the remainder of the last three rows blank.

Index Entries

  • astronomy; and calculations of Monticello’s latitude search
  • Jefferson, Thomas; Writings; Observations for Calculating the Latitude of Monticello search
  • latitude; calculations for Monticello search
  • Monticello (TJ’s estate); latitude of search
  • scientific instruments; sextants search
  • sextant; TJ uses search
  • sun; and calculation of latitude search

You Are Looking At

Source Project
Jefferson Papers
Title
Thomas Jefferson’s Observations for Calculating the Latitude of Monticello, 30 January–4 February 1816
Author
Jefferson, Thomas
Date
30 January 1816 – 4 February 1816

Reference

Cite as
“Thomas Jefferson’s Observations for Calculating the Latitude of Monticello, 30 January–4 February 1816,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-09-02-0271. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 9, September 1815 to April 1816, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012, p. 415.]