Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 ...
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 ecliptic system was the principal coordinate system for ancient astronomy and is still useful for computing the apparent motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets. [3] It was used to define the twelve astrological signs of the zodiac , for instance.
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.
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]
In celestial mechanics, true longitude is the ecliptic longitude at which an orbiting body could actually be found if its inclination were zero. Together with the inclination and the ascending node, the true longitude can tell us the precise direction from the central object at which the body would be located at a particular time.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Redirect page. Redirect to: Ecliptic coordinate system#Spherical coordinates
The first point of Aries, also known as the cusp of Aries, is the location of the March equinox (the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere, and the autumnal equinox in the southern), used as a reference point in celestial coordinate systems. In diagrams using such coordinate systems, it is often indicated with the symbol ♈︎.