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In astronomy, the ecliptic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system commonly used for representing the apparent positions, orbits, and pole orientations [1] of Solar System objects. Because most planets (except Mercury ) and many small Solar System bodies have orbits with only slight inclinations to the ecliptic , using it as the ...
The Stonyhurst heliographic coordinate system, developed at Stonyhurst College in the 1800s, has its origin (where longitude and latitude are both 0°) at the point where the solar equator intersects the central solar meridian as seen from Earth. Longitude in this system is therefore fixed for observers on Earth. [8] [5]
There are two principal variants of the ecliptic coordinate system: geocentric ecliptic coordinates centered on the Earth and heliocentric ecliptic coordinates centered on the center of mass of the Solar System. The geocentric ecliptic system was the principal coordinate system for ancient astronomy and is still useful for computing the ...
Ecliptic coordinates are convenient for specifying positions of Solar System objects, as most of the planets' orbits have small inclinations to the ecliptic, and therefore always appear relatively close to it on the sky. Because Earth's orbit, and hence the ecliptic, moves very little, it is a relatively fixed reference with respect to the stars.
The geocentric system is simpler, being smaller and involving few massive objects: that coordinate system defines its center as the center of mass of the Earth itself. The barycentric system can be loosely thought of as being centered on the Sun, but the Solar System is more complicated. Even the much smaller planets exert gravitational force ...
The Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system (acronym ECEF), also known as the geocentric coordinate system, is a cartesian spatial reference system that represents locations in the vicinity of the Earth (including its surface, interior, atmosphere, and surrounding outer space) as X, Y, and Z measurements from its center of mass.
Observers in Mazatlán, Mexico, were the first to see the total solar eclipse at 2:07 p.m. ET. It then continued into Texas and along a “path of totality” spanning more than 100 miles across ...
Solar longitude, commonly abbreviated as Ls, is the ecliptic longitude of the Sun, i.e. the position of the Sun on the celestial sphere along the ecliptic.It is also an effective measure of the position of the Earth (or any other Sun-orbiting body) in its orbit around the Sun, [1] usually taken as zero at the moment of the vernal equinox. [2]