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The poles of astronomical bodies are determined based on their axis of rotation in relation to the celestial poles of the celestial sphere. Astronomical bodies include stars, planets, dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies such as comets and minor planets (e.g., asteroids), as well as natural satellites and minor-planet moons.
The north and south celestial poles appear permanently directly overhead to observers at Earth's North Pole and South Pole, respectively. As Earth spins on its axis, the two celestial poles remain fixed in the sky, and all other celestial points appear to rotate around them, completing one circuit per day (strictly, per sidereal day).
A pole star is a visible star that is approximately aligned with the axis of rotation of an astronomical body; that is, a star whose apparent position is close to one of the celestial poles. On Earth, a pole star would lie directly overhead when viewed from the North or the South Pole.
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]
Galactic latitude is positive towards the north galactic pole, with a plane passing through the Sun and parallel to the galactic equator being 0°, whilst the poles are ±90°. [3] Based on this definition, the galactic poles and equator can be found from spherical trigonometry and can be precessed to other epochs; see the table.
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 ...
A partial view of Saturn's north pole, 2016. ... In the Center of Saturn's North Polar Vortex, Astronomy Picture of the Day – December 4, 2012;
This means that the Earth's rotational North pole does not point quite at the J2000 celestial pole at the epoch J2000.0; the true pole of epoch nutates away from the mean one. The same differences pertain to the equinox. [9] The "J" in the prefix indicates that it is a Julian equinox or epoch rather than a Besselian equinox or epoch.