ASTR 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Celestial Pole, Celestial Equator, Azimuth
Document Summary
Rotation from north point (0 to 360 degrees) Start at zenith and draw a line straight down through the object. Draw a vertical circle from the zenith through the object to the horizon. Measure the azimuth to this point (use north/south/east/west points of reference) Measure the height the object appears from the horizon-this is the altitude. The highest point in the sky a given object can reach at some point during the year (altitude on the meridian) Mark celestial equator, ce (alt= 90 degrees -latitude) From lincoln with a latitude of 41 degrees north. Mark north celestial pole (or south depending on problem/location) For this example, mark ncp at 41 degrees north. Do 90 degrees minus location (for this 41 degrees) Do 49 degrees (90-41) plus 7 degrees (declination) to find that the answer is 56 degrees. Mark south celestial pole (same thing but on right side of diagram) 90-41=49 so its 49 degrees above the north point on horizon.
