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Although ERA is intended to replace sidereal time, there is a need to maintain definitions for sidereal time during the transition, and when working with older data and documents. Similarly to mean solar time, every location on Earth has its own local sidereal time (LST), depending on the longitude of the point.
The local hour angle (LHA) of an object in the observer's sky is = or = + where LHA object is the local hour angle of the object, LST is the local sidereal time, is the object's right ascension, GST is Greenwich sidereal time and is the observer's longitude (positive east from the prime meridian). [3]
As seen from above the Earth's north pole, a star's local hour angle (LHA) for an observer near New York. Also depicted are the star's right ascension and Greenwich hour angle (GHA), the local mean sidereal time (LMST) and Greenwich mean sidereal time (GMST). The symbol ♈︎ identifies the March equinox direction.
Sidereal hour angle, used in celestial navigation, is similar to right ascension but increases westward rather than eastward. Usually measured in degrees (°), it is the complement of right ascension with respect to 24 h . [ 6 ]
The equation of time is the east or west component of the analemma, a curve representing the angular offset of the Sun from its mean position on the celestial sphere as viewed from Earth. The equation of time values for each day of the year, compiled by astronomical observatories, were widely listed in almanacs and ephemerides. [2] [3]: 14
Sidereal time is the hour angle of the equinox. However, there are two types: if the mean equinox is used (that which only includes precession), it is called mean sidereal time; if the true equinox is used (the actual location of the equinox at a given instant), it is called apparent sidereal time.
The classical equations, derived from spherical trigonometry, for the longitudinal coordinate are presented to the right of a bracket; dividing the first equation by the second gives the convenient tangent equation seen on the left. [5] The rotation matrix equivalent is given beneath each case. [6]
On a prograde planet like the Earth, the sidereal day is shorter than the solar day. At time 1, the Sun and a certain distant star are both overhead. At time 2, the planet has rotated 360° and the distant star is overhead again (1→2 = one sidereal day). But it is not until a little later, at time 3, that the Sun is overhead again (1→3 = one solar day). More simply, 1→2 is a complete ...