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The right ascension of Polaris is increasing quickly—in AD 2000 it was 2.5h, but when it gets closest to the north celestial pole in 2100 its right ascension will be 6h. The North Ecliptic Pole in Draco and the South Ecliptic Pole in Dorado are always at right ascension 18 h and 6 h respectively.
Model of the equatorial coordinate system. Declination (vertical arcs, degrees) and hour angle (horizontal arcs, hours) is shown. For hour angle, right ascension (horizontal arcs, degrees) can be used as an alternative. The equatorial coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system widely used to specify the positions of celestial objects.
For geocentric orbits, Earth's equatorial plane as the reference plane, and the First Point of Aries (FPA) as the origin of longitude. In this case, the longitude is also called the right ascension of the ascending node (RAAN). The angle is measured eastwards (or, as seen from the north, counterclockwise) from the FPA to the node.
The equatorial describes the sky as seen from the Solar System, and modern star maps almost exclusively use equatorial coordinates. The equatorial system is the normal coordinate system for most professional and many amateur astronomers having an equatorial mount that follows the movement of the sky during the night. Celestial objects are found ...
South: right ascension 6 h 0 m 0.0 s (exact), declination −66° 33′ 38.55″ The north ecliptic pole is located near the Cat's Eye Nebula and the south ecliptic pole is located near the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is impossible anywhere on Earth for either ecliptic pole to be at the zenith in the night sky.
Like right ascension in the equatorial coordinate system, the primary direction (0° ecliptic longitude) points from the Earth towards the Sun at the March equinox. Because it is a right-handed system, ecliptic longitude is measured positive eastwards in the fundamental plane (the ecliptic) from 0° to 360°.
German equatorial mount. In the German equatorial mount, [4] (sometimes called a "GEM" for short) the primary structure is a T-shape, where the lower bar is the right ascension axis (lower diagonal axis in image), and the upper bar is the declination axis (upper diagonal axis in image).
Declination in astronomy is comparable to geographic latitude, projected onto the celestial sphere, and right ascension is likewise comparable to longitude. [3] Points north of the celestial equator have positive declinations, while those south have negative declinations.