An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

An instrument used in antiquity to measure the apparent diameter of the Sun and the Moon. It was a rod with a scale, a sighting hole at one end, and a disk that could be moved along the rod to exactly obscure the Sun or Moon. The Sun was observed directly with the naked eye at sunrise or sunset in order to prevent eye damage. Aristarchus (c.310-230 B.C.), Archimedes (c. 290-212 B.C.), Hipparchus (died after 127 B.C.), and Ptolemy (c.100-170 A.D.) used the dioptra. The instrument could also serve for measurement of angles, land levelling, surveying, and construction of aqueducts and tunnels.

See also: → diopter.