Glossary
Altitude: the angular distance of a celestial object above the horizon and/or sea level.
Azimuth: The angle formed between the direction of north and the direction of an object in the sky, measured in a westerly direction.
Celestial: the relating to the sky or the heavens.
Longitude: the distance between an object and the prime meridian, measured in time.
Latitude: the distance of a object from the Earth's equator, measured in degrees.
Declination: the distance between a celestial body and the celestial equator, measured in degrees.
North celestial pole (NCP): the northern most point in the celestial sphere around which all the northern stars rotate. It is directly above the North Pole and can be found by identifying the North Star, Polaris.
South celestial pole (SCP): the southern most point in the celestial sphere around which all the southern stars rotate. It is directly above the South Pole.
Right ascension (RA): the distance between a celestial object and the vernal equinox point, measured in time. It is similar to longitude as its zero line follows the prime meridian
Vernal equinox: the point at which the sun moves from the southern sky into the northern sky. Currently, this occurs on 20 March. It marks the beginning of Spring in the North and Autumn in the South and is the point where right ascension equals zero hours.
Meridian: A line that passes through both celestial poles and the observer's zenith.
Prime Meridian (Greenwich Meridian): An imaginary line that runs through the Greenwich observatory from North to South. On the prime meridian, longitude is zero degrees.
Zenith: the point on the celestial sphere directly above a given position or the observer.
Diurnal motion: the daily motion of the sun and stars rising in the east and setting in the west.
Annual motion: describes the yearly patterns the stars make through space. The movement of the stars is caused by Earth's orbit around the Sun.
Circumpolar: this defines all stars that are close to a celestial pole and never set below the horizon.
Equatorial: stars that rise and set every night as they are near the equator.
Celestial Sphere: a sphere surrounding the Earth, that holds the 'fixed' positions of stars. This makes it easier for astronomers to analyse the positions of stars and planets.
Ecliptic: a line that marks the apparent orbit of the Sun around Earth. It is inclined by 23.5 degrees from the celestial equator.
Prograde motion: the motion of planets when they are moving eastward, in comparison with the stars.
Retrograde motion: the motion of planets when they move in a westerly direction, in relation to the stars
Epicycle: In the Ptolemaic system, the epicycle is a circle a planet orbits. Its centre revolves around the circumference the deferent, which travels around Earth.
Deferent: In the Ptolemaic system, the deferent is the circle that all planet epicycles rotate around. The deferent itself rotates around Earths.
Eccentric position: the position of Earth in the Ptolemaic system. This is slightly out of the centre of the deferent which is where Hipparchus originally placed Earth.
Heliocentric system: the model of the solar system that places the centre, with all the planets revolving around it.
Chromatic aberration: when different colours of light are refracted at different angles and the image is not focused.
Light-gathering power: the ability of a telescope to collect light from the star being observed.
NASA: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States.
ESA: European Space Agency
Adaptive optics: Allows modern telescopes to eliminate blurred vision caused by the Earth's atmospheric conditions.
Azimuth: The angle formed between the direction of north and the direction of an object in the sky, measured in a westerly direction.
Celestial: the relating to the sky or the heavens.
Longitude: the distance between an object and the prime meridian, measured in time.
Latitude: the distance of a object from the Earth's equator, measured in degrees.
Declination: the distance between a celestial body and the celestial equator, measured in degrees.
North celestial pole (NCP): the northern most point in the celestial sphere around which all the northern stars rotate. It is directly above the North Pole and can be found by identifying the North Star, Polaris.
South celestial pole (SCP): the southern most point in the celestial sphere around which all the southern stars rotate. It is directly above the South Pole.
Right ascension (RA): the distance between a celestial object and the vernal equinox point, measured in time. It is similar to longitude as its zero line follows the prime meridian
Vernal equinox: the point at which the sun moves from the southern sky into the northern sky. Currently, this occurs on 20 March. It marks the beginning of Spring in the North and Autumn in the South and is the point where right ascension equals zero hours.
Meridian: A line that passes through both celestial poles and the observer's zenith.
Prime Meridian (Greenwich Meridian): An imaginary line that runs through the Greenwich observatory from North to South. On the prime meridian, longitude is zero degrees.
Zenith: the point on the celestial sphere directly above a given position or the observer.
Diurnal motion: the daily motion of the sun and stars rising in the east and setting in the west.
Annual motion: describes the yearly patterns the stars make through space. The movement of the stars is caused by Earth's orbit around the Sun.
Circumpolar: this defines all stars that are close to a celestial pole and never set below the horizon.
Equatorial: stars that rise and set every night as they are near the equator.
Celestial Sphere: a sphere surrounding the Earth, that holds the 'fixed' positions of stars. This makes it easier for astronomers to analyse the positions of stars and planets.
Ecliptic: a line that marks the apparent orbit of the Sun around Earth. It is inclined by 23.5 degrees from the celestial equator.
Prograde motion: the motion of planets when they are moving eastward, in comparison with the stars.
Retrograde motion: the motion of planets when they move in a westerly direction, in relation to the stars
Epicycle: In the Ptolemaic system, the epicycle is a circle a planet orbits. Its centre revolves around the circumference the deferent, which travels around Earth.
Deferent: In the Ptolemaic system, the deferent is the circle that all planet epicycles rotate around. The deferent itself rotates around Earths.
Eccentric position: the position of Earth in the Ptolemaic system. This is slightly out of the centre of the deferent which is where Hipparchus originally placed Earth.
Heliocentric system: the model of the solar system that places the centre, with all the planets revolving around it.
Chromatic aberration: when different colours of light are refracted at different angles and the image is not focused.
Light-gathering power: the ability of a telescope to collect light from the star being observed.
NASA: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States.
ESA: European Space Agency
Adaptive optics: Allows modern telescopes to eliminate blurred vision caused by the Earth's atmospheric conditions.
Bibliography
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http://www.black-holes.org/relativity1.html
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http://astro.unl.edu/naap/ssm/animations/ptolemaic.swf
http://www.polaris.iastate.edu/EveningStar/Unit2/unit2_sub1.htm
http://www.solarsystemscope.com/
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ufhatch/pages/03-Sci-Rev/SCI-REV-Home/resource-ref-read/chief-systems/08-0retro-2.htm
http://www.universetoday.com/14820/when-will-mars-be-close-to-earth/
http://www.universetoday.com/33113/heliocentric-model/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_telescope
https://depts.washington.edu/hssexec/committee/hss_galileo.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refracting_telescope
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_telescope
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassegrain_reflector
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflecting_telescope
http://www.spacetelescope.org/about/
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-resources/what-are-celestial-coordinates/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_ascension
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_meridian_(Greenwich)
http://dictionary.reference.com/
http://www.physics.sfasu.edu/markworth/notes/Skymotionnotes.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diurnal_motion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumpolar_star
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit2/motions.html
http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/D/Diurnal+Motion
http://www.astro.washington.edu/users/balick/astro101/LectLib/wk2lec3.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrograde_motion#Formation_of_celestial_systems
http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/MOUNTS.HTM
http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/AO/
http://www.astronomynotes.com/telescop/s6.htm
Fry, Carmel. Heinemann physics 11. 3rd ed. Port Melbourne, Vic.: Pearson Education, 2008. Print.