Waugh began work on Nicolson's data in 1854, and along with his staff spent almost two years working on the numbers, having to deal with the problems of light refraction, barometric pressure, and temperature over the vast distances of the observations.
Waugh je 1854. započeo obradu Nicholsonovih podataka i zajedno sa svojim osobljem proveo skoro dvije godine u izračunima, s problemima loma svjetlosti, barometarskog pritiska i temperature preko velikih udaljenosti koji su morali biti riješeni.