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.

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sidereal year British  

noun

1. See year

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Etymology

Origin of sidereal year

First recorded in 1675–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sidereal year

In order to ascertain when the earth has performed an entire revolution in its orbit, we must observe when the sun returns in conjunction with any fixed star; and this is called a sidereal year.

From Conversations on Natural Philosophy, in which the Elements of that Science are Familiarly Explained by Jones, Thomas P.

By comparing two successive years they could of course have got at a sidereal year; but this is what they did not do; hence the irregularity which produced the canicular cycle.

From Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville by Somerville, Mary

In what way was the primitive year regulated? was it a solar or a sidereal year?

From Astronomical Myths Based on Flammarions's History of the Heavens by Blake, John F.

Owing to the precession of the equinoxes it is longer than a tropical or sidereal year by 25 minutes and 2.3 seconds.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various

Their observations led them to discover the length, very nearly, of the sidereal year, which they made to consist of 365 days, every fourth year adding one day, making the number for that year 366.

From General History for Colleges and High Schools by Myers, Philip Van Ness