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Related Flashcards
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Cards In This Set
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Celestial equator
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A great circle on the celestial sphere 90° from the celestial poles.
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Celestial poles
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The points about which the celestial sphere appears to rotate. See also and south
celestial pole
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Celestial sphere
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An imaginary sphere of very large radius centered on an observer; the apparent
sphere of the sky.
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Circumpolar
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A term describing a star that neither rises nor sets but appears to rotate around one of the celestial poles
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Constellation
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One of 88 official configurations of stars and also the region of the sky where those stars are located.
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Ecliptic
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The apparent annual path of the Sun on the celestial sphere.
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Ecliptic plane
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The plane of Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
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Equinox
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One of the intersections of the ecliptic and the celestial equator. Also used to refer to the date on which the Sun passes through such an intersection.
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Horizon
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The line at which the Earth's surface and the sky appear to meet.
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Latitude
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The angular distance of a place north or south of the earth's equator
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Local sky
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The sky as viewed from a particular location on the Earth.
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Longitude
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The angular distance of a place east (negative) or west (positive) of the meridian at Greenwich, England.
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Meridian
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The great circle on the celestial sphere that passes through an observer’s zenith and the north and south celestial poles. Also know as the local meridian.
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Meridian transit
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The crossing of the meridian by any astronomical object.
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North celestial pole
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The point directly above the Earth’s north pole where the Earth’s axis of rotation, if extended, would intersect the celestial sphere.
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