A terrestrial reference frame (TRF) is the

reference frame In physics and astronomy, a frame of reference (or reference frame) is an abstract coordinate system whose origin (mathematics), origin, orientation (geometry), orientation, and scale (geometry), scale are specified by a set of reference point ...

as one views from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

, or from the surface of another Earth-like planet. A TRF affects the way humans perceive almost everything from day to day because as they live on the Earth, as an Earth-based point of view was the only viewpoint from which could be observed, at least until the

space age The Space Age is a period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events, beginning with the launch of Sputnik 1 during 1957, and continuing ...

. One of the most noticeable results of the TRF is how the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...

appears to rise and set in the sky every day, which is actually an effect of the Earth rotating on its axis.

Effects

*The flight paths of aircraft. *The retrograde motions of the

planets A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...

, e.g.

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...

(which is the easiest to see). *The apparent rising and setting of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

, and

stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

References

* * Babcock, Alice K.; Wilkins, George A. (1988
''The Earth's Rotation and Reference Frames for Geodesy and Geodynamics''
Springer Frames of reference Geodesy {{geodesy-stub

Effects

See also

References