Questions tagged [right-ascension]
Questions regarding the second ordinate of the equatorial celestial system.
61
questions
19
votes
4
answers
5k
views
What's the difference between minutes and arcminutes?
I read in trigonometry class that 1 minute is equal to 1/60 degrees. So, 'minute' is an angular unit. But also 'arcminutes' are used to measure seperation between celestial objects and also equals to ...
7
votes
1
answer
465
views
Is the Ra/Dec of Alnitak in Orion's Belt known to be correct?
I've obtained right ascension / declination information about some of stars in the Orion constellation from a few different sources and imported this into an open source video game I'm making. Using (...
6
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Calculating the time a star is at my local meridian based on its right ascension
I've been watching an astronomy course on YouTube and I'm struggling to calculate stars' positions based on their right ascension.
What I'm trying to achieve: Calculate when a star (Sirius in this ...
5
votes
2
answers
668
views
What is the area of the Summer Triangle?
I'm pretty sure spherical trigonometry comes into use here but I don't know how to calculate the area. I'm pretty sure Vega, Deneb, and Altair's declination and right ascension figures need to be ...
5
votes
1
answer
197
views
Position of Hamal (alpha Arietis) between 1582 and 1588
Between 1582 and 1588, Tycho Brahe observed $\alpha$ Arietis from Uraniborg (55°54′28″N 12°41′48″E) on at least 27 separate occasions and made a record of the right ascension of the star (see Opera ...
4
votes
3
answers
954
views
Measuring misalignment between two positions on sky
Let's say I have the (RA,Dec) for two positions on the sky. I want to measure the position angle between these two positions. In other words, if I had the Cartesian coordinate vectors for these two ...
4
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Right Ascension for epoch 2000 - physical location?
I understand that Right Ascension is a longitude-like celestial coordinate that varies from 0-24hrs, taken from a reference point of the vernal equinox. More specifically, for star maps that are based ...
4
votes
1
answer
396
views
Right Ascension of North Celestial Pole
My scope simulator is pointing to the celestial north pole.
My position is 41º 27' lat and 2º 15' long.
At 12h 43m local time (11h 43m UTC) the coordinates read from the scope are:
RA: 16h 14m 25s
DE: ...
4
votes
1
answer
276
views
Is this how stars’ right ascensions correlate to planets’ longitudes on a 2d map?
This is my first ever online question, so please bear with me:
I’m working on an A1-sized map of at least 100 of the largest solar system bodies (henceforth just called ‘planets’, ignorning the IAU ...
4
votes
1
answer
309
views
Sidereal time of rising and setting of the sun on the arctic circle
$$
cos(h)= -tan(\delta)tan(\phi)
$$
$$
\Theta = h + \alpha
$$
if these two equations are the correct equations to solve the following question why doesnt it yield the same answer for the sideral ...
4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Convert a Decimal into RA or Dec
http://exoplanets.eu/ displays R.A. on screen in hh:mm:ss format but when you export the table, it gives the R.A. as a decimal. Likewise for Declination.
How can I turn for example 24.35417 (WASP-...
3
votes
1
answer
410
views
What's the Right Ascension & Declination of Galactic Left & Galactic Right?
For the purpose of being able to align my model to the galactic plane, I want to know the directions of the galactic center, anti-center, north, south, left & right.
This gives me the answer for ...
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What is the rate of change by day for a given right ascension?
I am writing a small Julia app to get my feet wet in that language. And I want to calculate "what's up tonight" based on a table of right ascension (RA)/Dec(lination) (table of stars), a ...
3
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What is meant by *topocentric* right ascension and declination?
I'm looking up how to convert an azimuth/elevation measurement from a specific location on Earth's surface to right ascension/declination. I'm coming across the terms "topocentric declination" and "...
3
votes
1
answer
9k
views
How to calculate the ground track of the Moon's position on the Earth's surface?
I would like to project the Moon's position on to the surface of the Earth, starting with its position expressed as Right Ascension in degrees.
I know that the declination of the Moon corresponds to ...