Joe Sempik <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Last year I was fortunate enough to visit Bologna and see the meridian lines
> at San Petronio's and at the Astronomical Museum, the former observatory.
> The great meridian line at San Petronio's inspired fascination with almost
> every visitor.  It would be wonderful if a few more such lines were built
> around the world to allow many more people the opportunity to see them and
> to observe the movement of the earth in such a simple but elegant fashion. 


This reminded me of a question I've long wondered: Are there any other
cathedrals in Europe that emulated the noon mark in the Church of San
Petronio, Bologna, Italy?  I thought I recalled someone mentioning the
existence of noon marks in Bergamo, Italy and one at Salisbury Cathedral,
England; can anyone confirm these?

By the way, there's an interesting photo of the pinhole-projected, partially 
eclipsed Sun crossing the meridian marker at the Church of San Petronio in
_Sky and Telescope_, November issue, 1974, page 299.  I would expect a
similar opportunity to image a *crescent* Sun at local noon on this same
noon mark when the 11 August 1999 solar eclipse occurs.

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