polar distance

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. codeclination.

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polar distance British  

noun

1. Also called: codeclination.  the angular distance of a star, planet, etc, from the celestial pole; the complement of the declination

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Etymology

Origin of polar distance

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

polar distance

A manuscript catalogue of all the nebulæ and clusters, reduced to 1,800, and arranged in zones of 1° in polar distance; by Miss Carolina Herschel.

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

In the measurement of equatorial co-ordinates, the polar distance is determined in an analogous way.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various

I hope, some day, myself to have another instrument made with a more readily changeable polar distance, with trace and guide points working in the same vertical, and a wheel permitting of inverse summation.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 794, March 21, 1891 by Various

The angle through the celestial pole, between these two positions, is double the polar distance.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various

For the ecliptic polar distance, five columns are added in groups, formed in seven different ways, each different way having on the average about nine hundred groups.

From Autobiography of Sir George Biddell Airy by George Biddell Airy