Encyclopedia

heliocentric coordinate system

(hee-lee-oh-sen -trik) A coordinate system referring usually to the plane of the ecliptic but specifying position with respect to the center of the Sun rather than that of Earth (see geocentric coordinate system). The coordinates – heliocentric latitude and longitude – are used to determine the relative positions of objects in the Solar System. See also barycenter.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

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References in periodicals archive

*** The SE is a heliocentric coordinate system with the z-axis normal to and northward from the ecliptic plane.

Notes on Pioneer anomaly explanation by sattellite-shift formula of quaternion relativity: remarks on "less mundane explanation of Pioneer anomaly from Q-relativity"

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