NATS 1745 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Tropical Year, Gnomon, Sopdet
4 Oct 2018
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Document Summary
Path of sun through sky: equinox: equal night. The equinox is the path in between the two solstices. The tilt is 23 to the ecliptic. The tilt explains the seasons (n pole tilted towards sun: path of sun is higher and length of day is longer. S pole tilted towards sun: path of sun is lower and length of day is shorter): ecliptic: the specific path through the sky that the sun travels. All celestial objects track this orbit through the sky from the perspective of the earth. The ecliptic is the plane in which earth orbits the sun: polaris: the star where the north celestial pole points towards. The angle of polaris above the horizon is a latitude of 44 : meridian: perfect north/south line. The sun, stars crosses meridian at highest point: circumpolar stars: never rise/set, always visible, zenith: point directly overhead.
