North Ecliptic Pole


Also found in: Acronyms.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

North Ecliptic Pole

 

one of the two points of intersection of the celestial sphere with a line perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic and passing through the center of the celestial sphere. (The ecliptic is the great circle traced by the annual apparent motion of the center of the sun on the celestial sphere.) Located in the northern sky, in the constellation Draco, the north ecliptic pole has the following equatorial coordinates: right ascension α = 18h00m; declination δ = +66° 33′.

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