diurnal motion

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. the apparent daily motion, caused by the earth's rotation, of celestial bodies across the sky.

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diurnal motion British  

noun

1. motion that occurs during the day or daily, such as the diurnal rotation of the celestial sphere

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

diurnal motion

The title of this paper was Astronomical Observations on the Rotation of the Planets round their Axes, made with a view to determine whether the Earth's diurnal motion is perfectly equable.

From Sir William Herschel: His Life and Works by Edward Singleton Holden

And from the diurnal motion and the attractions of the sun and moon our sea ought twice to rise and twice to fall every day, as well lunar as solar.

From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 15 — Science by Sir John Alexander Hammerton

The stile is made parallel with the earth's axis, and may be considered as coinciding with the axis of the sun's apparent diurnal motion.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 1: Deposition to Eberswalde by Various

Astronomical observations on the rotation of the planets round their axes, made with a view to determine whether the earth's diurnal motion is perfectly equable.

From Sir William Herschel: His Life and Works by Edward Singleton Holden

The lunar tide is a perturbation in the diurnal motion of the sea, and its amount is therefore a legitimate mode of calculating the moon's mass.

From Pioneers of Science by Sir Oliver Lodge