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This is then subtracted from 90° to obtain the angular distance from the position directly above to obtain the zenith distance. A further correction must then be taken into account to counter the "wobble" of the earth's spin and rotation relative to the sun and planets.
Azimuth is measured eastward from the north point (sometimes from the south point) of the horizon; altitude is the angle above the horizon. The horizontal coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system that uses the observer's local horizon as the fundamental plane to define two angles of a spherical coordinate system: altitude and azimuth.
Angular distance appears in mathematics (in particular geometry and trigonometry) and all natural sciences (e.g., kinematics, astronomy, and geophysics). In the classical mechanics of rotating objects, it appears alongside angular velocity, angular acceleration, angular momentum, moment of inertia and torque.
Geodetic latitude and geocentric latitude have different definitions. Geodetic latitude is defined as the angle between the equatorial plane and the surface normal at a point on the ellipsoid, whereas geocentric latitude is defined as the angle between the equatorial plane and a radial line connecting the centre of the ellipsoid to a point on the surface (see figure).
Right ascension (abbreviated RA; symbol α) is the angular distance of a particular point measured eastward along the celestial equator from the Sun at the March equinox to the (hour circle of the) point in question above the Earth. [1]
Instead of the radial distance r geographers commonly use altitude above or below some local reference surface (vertical datum), which, for example, may be the mean sea level. When needed, the radial distance can be computed from the altitude by adding the radius of Earth, which is approximately 6,360 ± 11 km (3,952 ± 7 miles).
Hence the distance is greatest when looking directly away from the Sun along the horizon in the east, and lowest along the horizon in the west. The bottom plot in the figure to the left represents the angular distance from the observed pointing to the zenith, which is opposite to the interior angle located at the Sun.
The fundamental plane is the plane of the Earth's equator. The primary direction (the x axis) is the March equinox. A right-handed convention specifies a y axis 90° to the east in the fundamental plane; the z axis is the north polar axis. The reference frame does not rotate with the Earth, rather, the Earth rotates around the z axis.