William Markowitz

William Markowitz ( born February 8, 1907 in Melč, † 10 October 1998 in Pompano Beach, Florida) was an American astronomer.

Markowitz worked from 1936 to 1966 at the U.S. Naval Observatory and led from 1953 to 1966 whose time service. His main interest was the earth's rotation and polar motion. He constructed a special lunar camera that was used for the determination of Ephemeris Time. The comparisons of realized with this camera astronomical Ephemeridenzeitskala with the physically generated atomic time scale of the cesium atomic clocks newly developed led to the definition of the SI second as 9,192,631,770 vibrations of the radiation emitted by cesium atoms radiation.

Publications

Markowitz Wm: Photographic determination of the moon 's position, and applications to the measure of time, rotation of the earth, and geodesy. Astronomical Journal, vol 59, p. 69 ( 1954) ( online)

Markowitz Wm: Variations in rotation of the earth, results Obtained with the dual - rate moon camera and photographic zenith tubes. In: Dirk Brouwer, ed: The rotation of the Earth and Atomic Time Standards, IAU Symposium no 11, Moscow, August 1958 Lancaster Press 1959, p.26 (online).

Markowitz Wm: International determination of the total motion of the pole. In: Paul J. Melchior, ed: The Future of the International Latitude Service; IAU Symposium # 13 held in Helsinki, July 1960, p.29 -41 (online)