GLOSSARY

Aphelion The point in a planet's orbit which is furthest from the Sun.

Celestial equator A circle on the celestial sphere which is a projection of the Earth's equator.
Complementary angles Two angles that add up to 90°, like 37 and 53.
Conjunction Two planets are in conjunction when they have the same longitude. They are
then seen close together.

Declination (  ) The angular distance of a heavenly body from the celestial equator.

Ecliptic The Sun's apparent path in the sky relative to the stars. The plane of the earth's orbit.
Elongation the angular separation of a planet from the Sun, as seen by an observer.
Ephemeris A document giving the positions of naturally occurring astronomical objects
Equation of time The difference between mean solar time as given by a clock and apparent
solar time as given by a sundial.
Equatorial plane The plane of the Earth's equator.
Equinox The time, or the point, at which the Sun crosses the celestial equator.

First Point of Aries () The point of intersection of the equator and the ecliptic where the
Sun passes from south to north.
Focus When a body has an elliptical orbit around a primary body the primary body always
takes the position called the focus to conform with the inverse square law of gravitational
attraction.

Galaxy A very large gravitationally-bound system of stars: our own Galaxy is disc-shaped
and contains some hundred thousand million stars.
Geocentric As viewed from the Earth's centre.
Great circle A circle on the surface of a sphere which has the greatest diameter.

Heliocentric As viewed from the Sun's centre.

Hypotenuse The longest side of a right-angled triangle (opposite the right angle).

Inferior planet The planets within the Earth’s orbit

Inner planet The planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

Latitude The angular distance of a place north or south of the earth's equator, as measured at
the centre of the Earth.
Local time The time at a place on the Earth measured from the Sun's transit across the
meridian.
Longitude (terrestrial) The angle that the meridian through the geographical poles and a
point on the Earth's surface makes with the Greenwich (standard) meridian.
Longitude (astronomical) The angular distance of a celestial body from the First Point of
Aries measured along the ecliptic.

Meridian The great circle on the celestial sphere which passes through an observer's zenith
and the celestial poles.
North celestial pole The point where the line from the Earth's centre to the north pole meets
the celestial sphere.

Outer planet The planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Perihelion The point in an orbit closest to the body around which it orbits.
Period/periodic time The time taken for an orbiting body to complete one circuit relative to
the stars.
Pole star The well-known star close to the north celestial pole.
Precession A slow movement, relative to the stars, of the equinoxes around the ecliptic.

Quadrant boundaries The angles 0°, 90°, 180°, 360°.

Sidereal day The time taken by the Earth to make one rotation on its axis relative to the stars.
Sidereal year The time taken by the Earth to make one revolution around the Sun relative to
the stars.
Solstice The points at which the Sun reaches its greatest declination, north or south.
South celestial pole The point where the line from the Earth's centre to the south pole meets
the celestial sphere.
Superior planet The planets outside the Earth’s orbit
Synodic period The time between successive conjunctions of a planet with the sun.

Vernal equinox See First Point of Aries.

Zenith The point on the celestial sphere which is directly overhead.

Zodiac Belt of the heavens between about 8° either side of the ecliptic, divided into 12 equal
divisions called the ‘signs of the zodiac’.