diurnal circle

diurnal circle

See diurnal motion.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

diurnal circle

[dī′ərn·əl ′sər·kəl]

(astronomy)

The apparent daily path of a celestial body, approximating a parallel of declination.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Diurnal Circle

 

a small circle of the celestial sphere in a plane parallel to the plane of the celestial equator. Diurnal circles are paths along which points of the celestial sphere (other than the celestial poles) travel owing to the apparent diurnal rotation of the celestial sphere about the celestial axis.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.