Article
Article
Astronomical coordinate systems
Article By:
Yeomans, Donald K. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California.
Last reviewed:October 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.057400
Schemes for locating astronomical objects in space. To an observer on the Earth's surface, the stars of the night sky appear to be placed upon a spherical shell of infinite radius with the observer at the center. Celestial objects appear to move with respect to the stars, and at any given time their position on this imaginary sphere, called the celestial sphere, can be specified by two angles, called celestial coordinates, whose values depend upon what coordinate system is used. See also: Celestial sphere
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