Colure, in

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

, is either of the two principal

meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

s of the

celestial sphere In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an abstract sphere that has an arbitrarily large radius and is concentric to Earth. All objects in the sky can be conceived as being projected upon the inner surface of the celestial sphere, ...

Equinoctial colure

The ''equinoctial colure'' is the

great circle In mathematics, a great circle or orthodrome is the circular intersection of a sphere and a plane passing through the sphere's center point. Any arc of a great circle is a geodesic of the sphere, so that great circles in spherical geometry ...

of the celestial sphere which passes through the

celestial pole The north and south celestial poles are the two points in the sky where Earth's axis of rotation, indefinitely extended, intersects the celestial sphere. The north and south celestial poles appear permanently directly overhead to observers a ...

s and the two

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears zenith, directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" ...

es: the first point of Aries and the

first point of Libra A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and set ...

Solstitial colure

The ''solstitial colure'' is the meridian or great circle of the celestial sphere which passes through the poles and the two

solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many count ...

s: the

first point of Cancer A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countrie ...

and the

first point of Capricorn A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countrie ...

. There are several stars closely aligned with the solstitial colure:

Pi Herculis Pi Herculis (π Her, π Herculis) is a third-magnitude star in the constellation Hercules. As one of the four stars in the Keystone asterism (see yellow quadrangle), it is one of the constellation's more easily recognized. It has an ...

Delta Aurigae Delta Aurigae, Latinized from δ Aurigae, is the Bayer designation for an astrometric binary star in the northern constellation of Auriga. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.715. Based upon its annual ...

, and

Theta Scorpii Theta Scorpii (θ Scorpii, abbreviated Theta Sco, θ Sco) is a binary star in the southern zodiac constellation of Scorpius. The apparent visual magnitude of this star is +1.87, making it readily visible to the naked eye and one of the br ...

. This makes the solstitial colure point towards the North Celestial Pole and Polaris.

References

* * * * * Kaler, Jim. "Pi Aurigae."
Pi Aurigae
'. N.p. 22 Feb. 2008. Web. Astronomical coordinate systems {{astronomy-stub

Equinoctial colure

Solstitial colure

See also

References