Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The greatest elongation of a given inferior planet occurs when this planet's position, in its orbital path around the Sun, is at tangent to the observer on Earth. Since an inferior planet is well within the area of Earth's orbit around the Sun, observation of its elongation should not pose that much a challenge (compared to deep-sky objects, for example).
The cosmic distance ladder (also known as the extragalactic distance scale) is the succession of methods by which astronomers determine the distances to celestial objects.
This glossary of astronomy is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to astronomy and cosmology, their sub-disciplines, and related fields. Astronomy is concerned with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth. The field of astronomy features an extensive vocabulary and a ...
Elongation may refer to: Elongation (astronomy) Elongation (geometry) Elongation (plasma physics) Part of transcription of DNA into RNA of all types, including mRNA, tRNA, rRNA, etc. Part of translation (biology) of mRNA into proteins; Elongated organisms; Elongation (mechanics), linear deformation
Coordinate systems in astronomy can specify an object's relative position in three-dimensional space or plot merely by its direction on a celestial sphere, if the object's distance is unknown or trivial. Spherical coordinates, projected on the celestial sphere, are analogous to the geographic coordinate system used on the surface of Earth.
Retrograde motion in astronomy is, in general, orbital or rotational motion of an object in the direction opposite the rotation of its primary, that is, the central object (right figure). It may also describe other motions such as precession or nutation of an object's rotational axis.
In astronomy, a syzygy (/ ˈ s ɪ z ə dʒ i / SIZ-ə-jee; from Ancient Greek συζυγία (suzugía) 'union, yoking', expressing the sense of σύν (syn-"together") and ζυγ- (zug-"a yoke") [1] [2]) is a roughly straight-line configuration of three or more celestial bodies in a gravitational system.
The science of actually measuring positions of celestial objects in the sky is known as astrometry. The primary elements of spherical astronomy are celestial coordinate systems and time. The coordinates of objects on the sky are listed using the equatorial coordinate system , which is based on the projection of Earth's equator onto the ...