sidereal year

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. a division of time equal to the equinoctial year plus 20 minutes, representing the time required for the earth to complete one revolution around the sun, measured with relation to the fixed stars.

---

sidereal year British  

noun

1. See year

---

Etymology

Origin of sidereal year

First recorded in 1675–85

Example Sentences

The length of the sidereal year is 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes.

From The Astronomy of the Bible An Elementary Commentary on the Astronomical References of Holy Scripture by Maunder, E. Walter (Edward Walter)

The earth’s axis rotates about the pole of the ecliptic, making one revolution and a twenty-six thousandth part of a revolution in the sidereal year, in the opposite direction to its orbital motion.

From History of Astronomy by Forbes, George

The early Babylonians used a sidereal year, as will be shown shortly.

From The Astronomy of the Bible An Elementary Commentary on the Astronomical References of Holy Scripture by Maunder, E. Walter (Edward Walter)

Their sidereal year was 4�m too long,7 and they kept the ecliptic stationary among the stars, making no allowance for the shifting of the equinoxes.

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

It has received the name of sidereal year.

From Astronomy for Amateurs by Welby, Frances A. (Frances Alice)