Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Twilight occurs according to the solar elevation angle θ s, which is the position of the geometric center of the Sun relative to the horizon. There are three established and widely accepted subcategories of twilight: civil twilight (nearest the horizon), nautical twilight, and astronomical twilight (farthest from the horizon).
A terminator or twilight zone is a moving line that divides the daylit side and the dark night side of a planetary body. The terminator is defined as the locus of points on a planet or moon where the line through the center of its parent star is tangent .
The times of the rising and the setting of the upper solar limb as given in astronomical almanacs correct for this by using the more general equation cos ω ∘ = sin a − sin ϕ × sin δ cos ϕ × cos δ {\displaystyle \cos \omega _{\circ }={\dfrac {\sin a-\sin \phi \times \sin \delta }{\cos \phi \times \cos \delta }}}
Twilight, the period in the morning during which the sky is brightening, but the Sun is not yet visible. The beginning of morning twilight is called astronomical dawn. The period after the Sun rises during which striking colors and atmospheric effects are still seen. [5] Civil twilight being the brightest, while astronomical twilight being the ...
This is the coordinate system normally used to calculate the position of the Sun in terms of solar zenith angle and solar azimuth angle, and the two parameters can be used to depict the Sun path. [3] This calculation is useful in astronomy, navigation, surveying, meteorology, climatology, solar energy, and sundial design.
For this reason, to simplify the description of Earth's orientation in astronomy and geodesy, it was conventional to chart the positions of the stars in the sky according to right ascension and declination, which are based on a frame of reference that follows Earth's precession, and to keep track of Earth's rotation, through sidereal time ...
The period of twilight is shortest at the Equator, where the equinox Sun rises due east and sets due west, at a right angle to the horizon. Each stage of twilight (civil, nautical, and astronomical) lasts only 24 minutes. From anywhere on Earth, the twilight period is shortest around the equinoxes and longest on the solstices. [citation needed]
Crepuscular rays, sometimes colloquially referred to as god rays, are sunbeams that originate when the Sun appears to be just above or below a layer of clouds, during the twilight period. [1] Crepuscular rays are noticeable when the contrast between light and dark is most obvious. Crepuscular comes from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning ...