fixed star

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. any of the stars which apparently always retain the same position in respect to one another.

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fixed star British  

noun

1. any of the stars in the Ptolemaic system, all of which were thought to be attached to an outer crystal sphere thus explaining their apparent lack of movement

2. an extremely distant star whose position appears to be almost stationary over a long period of time

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fixed star Scientific  

/ fĭkst /

1. A star or other celestial object so distant from Earth that its position in relation to other stars appears not to change over time. The fixed stars, which include virtually all visible objects beyond the solar system, form the background against which the motions of the Sun, planets, and other bodies of the solar system are measured, and they provide the reference for determining sidereal time. In actuality, no celestial object has a fixed position in relation to any other, and the movement of so-called fixed stars can be measured by precise observation over long periods of time.

2. See more at proper motion

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Etymology

Origin of fixed star

First recorded in 1555–65

Example Sentences

"If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion…"

From Salon

Babylonian astronomers had previously measured the positions of some stars around the zodiac, the constellations that lie along the ecliptic—the Sun’s annual path against the fixed stars, as seen from Earth.

From Scientific American

The satellite — basically a large balloon — zipped across the inky darkness, a moving object against a field of fixed stars.

From Washington Post

It takes a hazzanut melody and spins it out along an out-of-body journey past moon, Mercury, Venus, sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and distant fixed stars.

From Los Angeles Times

The stars’ relative positions remained unchanged, so the Greeks called them the “fixed stars.”

From Scientific American