Definition:Celestial Altitude
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Definition
Let $X$ be a point on the celestial sphere.
The (celestial) altitude of $X$ is defined as the angle subtended by the the arc of the vertical circle through $X$ between the celestial horizon and $X$ itself.
Symbol
The symbol for celestial altitude is $a$.
Also see
- Results about celestial altitude can be found here.
Sources
- 1976: W.M. Smart: Textbook on Spherical Astronomy (6th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {II}$. The Celestial Sphere: $18$. Altitude and azimuth.
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): altitude: 2.
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): altitude: 2.
- 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): altitude (in astronomy)