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A synodic day (or synodic rotation period or solar day) is the period for a celestial object to rotate once in relation to the star it is orbiting, and is the basis of solar time. The synodic day is distinguished from the sidereal day, which is one complete rotation in relation to distant stars [1] and is the basis of sidereal time.
Picture of a poster clarifying the difference between a sidereal day and the more conventional solar day Animation showing the difference between a sidereal day and a solar day. Sidereal time ("sidereal" pronounced / s aɪ ˈ d ɪər i əl, s ə-/ sy-DEER-ee-əl, sə-) is a system of timekeeping used especially by astronomers.
Rotation period with respect to distant stars, the sidereal rotation period (compared to Earth's mean Solar days) Synodic rotation period (mean Solar day) Apparent rotational period viewed from Earth Sun [i] 25.379995 days (Carrington rotation) 35 days (high latitude) 25 d 9 h 7 m 11.6 s 35 d ~28 days (equatorial) [2] Mercury: 58.6462 days [3 ...
The cosine of the hour angle (cos(h)) is used to calculate the solar zenith angle. At solar noon, h = 0.000 so cos(h) = 1, and before and after solar noon the cos(± h) term = the same value for morning (negative hour angle) or afternoon (positive hour angle), so that the Sun is at the same altitude in the sky at 11:00AM and 1:00PM solar time. [5]
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 ...
One sidereal hour (approximately 0.9973 solar hours) later, Earth's rotation will carry the star to the west of the meridian, and its hour angle will be 1 h. When calculating topocentric phenomena, right ascension may be converted into hour angle as an intermediate step.
Angles in the hours ( h), minutes ( m), and seconds ( s) of time measure must be converted to decimal degrees or radians before calculations are performed. 1 h = 15°; 1 m = 15′; 1 s = 15″ Angles greater than 360° (2 π ) or less than 0° may need to be reduced to the range 0°−360° (0–2 π ) depending upon the particular calculating ...
The hour circle is a subtype whereby it is expressed in hours as opposed to degrees, radians, or other units of angle. The hour circles make for easy prediction of the angle (and time due to Earth's fairly regular rotation, approximately equal to the time) between the observation of two objects at the same, or similar declination. The hour ...