EPHEMERIS

, Ephemerides, tables calculated by astronomers, shewing the present state of the heavens for every day at noon; that is, the places in which all the planets are found at that time; differing but little from an Astronomical Almanac. It is from such tables as these that the eclipses, conjunctions, and aspects of the planets are made out; as also horoscopes, or celestial schemes, constructed, &c.

There have been Ephemerides of Origan, Kepler, Argoli, Heckerus, Mezzarachis, Wing, Gadbury, Parker, De la Hire, &c.

In France the Academy of Sciences have published annually, from the beginning of the present century, a kind of Ephemeris, under the title of Connoissance des Temps, which is still continued, and is in great esteem; as are also the Ephemerides, published there every ten years, by M. Desplaces, and De la Lande.

There are now published such Ephemerides by the Academies of several other nations; but that which is in most esteem for its accuracy and use in finding the longitude, is the Nautical Almanac, or Astronomical Ephemeris, published in England by the Board of Longitude, under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal, which commenced with the year 1767.