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Because it is a right-handed system, ecliptic longitude is measured positive eastwards in the fundamental plane (the ecliptic) from 0° to 360°. Because of axial precession , the ecliptic longitude of most "fixed stars" (referred to the equinox of date) increases by about 50.3 arcseconds per year, or 83.8 arcminutes per century, the speed of ...
In astronomy, coordinate systems are used for specifying positions of celestial objects (satellites, planets, stars, galaxies, etc.) relative to a given reference frame, based on physical reference points available to a situated observer (e.g. the true horizon and north to an observer on Earth's surface). [1]
Spherical coordinates, known as ecliptic longitude and latitude or celestial longitude and latitude, are used to specify positions of bodies on the celestial sphere with respect to the ecliptic. Longitude is measured positively eastward [5] 0° to 360° along the ecliptic from the March equinox, the same direction in which the Sun appears to ...
In astronomy, an equinox is either of two places on the celestial sphere at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator. [1] [2] [3] Although there are two such intersections, the equinox associated with the Sun's ascending node is used as the conventional origin of celestial coordinate systems and referred to simply as "the equinox".
Stars at the ecliptic poles appear to move in circles, stars exactly in the ecliptic plane move in lines, and stars at intermediate angles move in ellipses. Shown here are the apparent motions of stars with the ecliptic latitudes corresponding to these cases, and with ecliptic longitude of 270°.
It is on the celestial equator at both the left and right extremes of the sky chart, with the ecliptic (the orange dotted sine curve) passing through it. 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 ...
From the above definitions, define the longitude of the pericenter. ϖ = Ω + ω. Then mean longitude is also [1] L = ϖ + M. Another form often seen is the mean longitude at epoch, ε. This is simply the mean longitude at a reference time t 0, known as the epoch. Mean longitude can then be expressed, [2] L = ε + n(t − t 0), or
The modern definition using ecliptic longitudes, introduced by the Shixian calendar, is known as 定气法 (dìng qì fǎ, ' steady term method '). Under this method, the determination of solar terms is similar to the astronomical determination of the special cases of equinox and solstice dates, with different ecliptic longitudes to solve for.