Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The greatest elongation of a given inferior planet occurs when this planet's position, in its orbital path around the Sun, is at tangent to the observer on Earth. Since an inferior planet is well within the area of Earth's orbit around the Sun, observation of its elongation should not pose that much a challenge (compared to deep-sky objects, for example).
In spherical astronomy, the parallactic angle is the angle between the great circle through a celestial object and the zenith, and the hour circle of the object. [1] It is usually denoted q. In the triangle zenith—object—celestial pole, the parallactic angle will be the position angle of the zenith at the celestial object.
The inclination is one of the six orbital elements describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit.It is the angle between the orbital plane and the plane of reference, normally stated in degrees.
The spaghettification of four objects falling towards a planet. In this example, four separate objects are in the space above a planet, positioned in a diamond formation.
This glossary of astronomy is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to astronomy and cosmology, their sub-disciplines, and related fields. Astronomy is concerned with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth. The field of astronomy features an extensive vocabulary and a ...
Parallax is a geometric effect: at the surface of Earth observers are offset from the line through the centers of Earth and Moon; this accounts for about a 1° difference in the Moon's surface which can be seen around the sides of the Moon when comparing observations made during moonrise and moonset. [22]
In astrodynamics, the orbital eccentricity of an astronomical object is a dimensionless parameter that determines the amount by which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect circle.
[1] [2] [a] It was a central concept in a number of ancient sciences, providing the framework for key measurements in astronomy, astrology and calendar-making. From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the Sun's movement around the celestial sphere over the course of a year traces out a path along the ecliptic against the background of ...