heliostatn.
/ˈhiːlɪəʊstat/ An apparatus consisting of a mirror turned by clockwork so as to reflect the light of the sun in a fixed direction. (Also applied to a simpler apparatus worked by hand, properly a porte-lumière.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instruments to refract, etc., light > [noun] > reflector
catoptric1628
heliostat1747
reflector1777
porte-lumière1877
the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > astronomical instruments > observational instruments > [noun] > sun
helioscope1675
heliostat1747
photoheliograph1862
photohelioscope1864
coronagraph1885
spectroheliograph1892
spectrohelioscope1906
spectroheliometer1973
1747 J. T. Desaguliers tr. Gravesande Nat. Philos. II. v. ii. 107 An Heliostate, Whereby the Sun's Rays are fix'd. This Machine consists of two principal Parts..The first is a plane metallick Speculum, supported by a Stand, the other is a Clock which directs the Speculum.
?1790 J. Imison School of Arts (ed. 2) 271 The Heliostata to take off the inconveniences which arise from the motion of the earth, in making experiments on the solar light.
1803 T. Young in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 94 16 For performing this experiment with very great accuracy, a heliostate would be necessary.
1844 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1841–3 2 97 A simple form of the Heliostat, or instrument for throwing a stationary beam of light into a darkened room.
Derivatives
helioˈstatic adj. pertaining to a heliostat.
ΚΠ
1881 Nature 29 Sept. 514 Phenomena developed by heliostatic star-disks.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1747