EPIC: An Electronic Punching and Indicating Chronograph

Summary

After a brief survey of the history of timing methods in astronomy, it is pointed out that at the present time an accuracy of one millisecond is both desirable and attainable by various methods.

The policy adopted at R.G.O. Herstmonceux, is that data should be obtained in machine-readable form at the earliest possible stage. EPIC was developed in accordance with this policy to give clock times of contact signals directly on punched cards.

EPIC is then described in general terms, and a more detailed explanation of the process of operation is given, followed by illustrative numerical examples.

The punched cards produced by EPIC are processed daily by computer, and these preliminary reductions are examined so that suspect observations may be investigated without delay.

A recent addition to the equipment is a control panel which enables the observer to record descriptive data on the punched cards at the time of observation, and so avoiding the need for hand-punching at a later stage.