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

The sidereal year is the time occupied by the sun in apparently completing the circuit of the heavens from a given star to the same star again.

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

The length of time that it takes for the earth to arrive at the same position with respect to the stars, which is called a sidereal year, amounts to 365·2563744 days.

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

There are two kinds of solar years, with which we may have to do in a luni-solar calendar—the tropical or equinoctial year, and the sidereal year.

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

Mrs. B. I must also explain to you what is meant by 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