Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The position of the Sun in the sky is a function of both the time and the geographic location of observation on Earth's surface. As Earth orbits the Sun over the course of a year , the Sun appears to move with respect to the fixed stars on the celestial sphere , along a circular path called the ecliptic .
Whilst the Sun is up (during summer months) it will circle around the whole sky (clockwise from the North Pole and counter-clockwise from the South Pole), appearing to stay at the same angle from the horizon, therefore the concept of day or night is meaningless. The angle of elevation will gradually change on an annual cycle, with the Sun ...
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]
The two most commonly used systems are the Stonyhurst and Carrington systems. They both define latitude as the angular distance from the solar equator, but differ in how they define longitude. In Stonyhurst coordinates, the longitude is fixed for an observer on Earth, and, in Carrington coordinates, the longitude is fixed for the Sun's rotation.
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.
Ecliptic longitude Ecliptic longitude or celestial longitude (symbols: heliocentric l, geocentric λ) measures the angular distance of an object along the ecliptic from the primary direction. Like right ascension in the equatorial coordinate system, the primary direction (0° ecliptic longitude) points from the Earth towards the Sun at the ...
Afternoon analemma photo taken in 1998–99 in Murray Hill, New Jersey, U.S., by Jack Fishburn.The Bell Laboratories building is in the foreground. In astronomy, an analemma (/ ˌ æ n ə ˈ l ɛ m ə /; from Ancient Greek ἀνάλημμα (analēmma) 'support') [a] is a diagram showing the position of the Sun in the sky as seen from a fixed location on Earth at the same mean solar time over ...
The solar azimuth angle is the azimuth (horizontal angle with respect to north) of the Sun's position. [1] [2] [3] This horizontal coordinate defines the Sun's relative direction along the local horizon, whereas the solar zenith angle (or its complementary angle solar elevation) defines the Sun's apparent altitude.