celestial equator

A great circle on the celestial sphere in the same plane as the earth's equator. Also called equinoctial, equinoctial circle.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

celestial equator

(Astronomy) the great circle lying on the celestial sphere, the plane of which is perpendicular to the line joining the north and south celestial poles. Also called: equinoctial or equinoctial circle

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

celes′tial equa′tor

the great circle of the celestial sphere, lying in the same plane as the earth's equator.

[1870–75]

celestial equator

A great circle on the celestial sphere in the same plane as the Earth's equator.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

celestial equator - the great circle on the celestial sphere midway between the celestial poles

equinoctial, equinoctial circle, equinoctial line

great circle - a circular line on the surface of a sphere formed by intersecting it with a plane passing through the center

Translations

equatore celeste

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

PAGASA noted that the radiant of the meteor shower will virtually lie on the celestial equator and is more favorable to southern hemisphere viewers.

Meteor shower to be visible in night sky on Monday

The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year, and families gather together to observe the rituals.

342 children born on Nooruz in Kyrgyzstan

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, theSpring Equinoxoccurs when the sun moves north across the celestial equator.

Spring FACTS and figures as we celebrate the Vernal Equinox 2019; The Vernal Equinox takes places on March 20 this year, meaning you can wave goodbye to winter

And for those in the Northern Hemisphere, the event only takes place when the sun journeys north across the celestial equator.

The Spring Equinox and Supermoon will appear this week and here's how to see them; The Spring Equinox will coincide with the last Supermoon of the year

It marks the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator from south to north.

AMAZING ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS ASTRONOMICAL; FROM METEOR SHOWERS TO SUPERMOONS - JUST LOOK UP FOR A WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT

"At NESD 2018, for the first time in our history, we will dip within hours of the exact moment the sun crosses the celestial equator. This feels so significant to me."

Dippers strip off to mark equinox

Spring's arrival coincides with the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, when the center of the sun's disk crosses the celestial equator south to north.

Ready for spring fever

After the autumnal equinox, Pagasa said 'Philippine nights will be longer as the sun moves below the celestial equator toward the southern hemisphere.'

No cold nights for this 'ber' month

In the northern hemisphere, the Sun crosses the celestial equator moving southward.

Astronomical Autumn Arrives in Bulgaria

(And no, it's not just the equinox sun crossing the celestial equator.) Head over to any pharmacy or big box store and you can watch it: Scores of adults standing in the greeting card aisle, reading every Mother's Day card on the rack until they find the right one.

The Hallmark card: how a Kansas city teenager folded a piece of cardboard and created a Mother's Day institution

But at sunset on March 19th, I observed the last bright spark of sunlight precisely in my "Road Henge" notch --just four hours before the Sun crossed the celestial equator.

An equinox sighting