Celestial time and position

• A sidereal day is the time taken for the Earth to spin one turn

• Declination is the celestial equivalent to latitude

  • a star with declination = 51° will be directly above us when it crosses the meridian

• Right ascension is the celestial equivalent to longitude

  • but is measured in hours, minutes and seconds
  • it is the sidereal time at which the star crosses the meridian

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