Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A table giving the coordinates of a celestial body at a number of specific times during a given period.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A daily record; a diary; a chronological statement of events by days; particularly, an almanac; a calendar: in this sense formerly sometimes with the plural as singular.
  • noun In astronomy, a table or a collection of tables or data showing the daily positions of the planets or heavenly bodies, or of any number of them; specifically, an astronomical almanac, exhibiting the places of the heavenly bodies throughout the year, and giving other information regarding them, for the use of the astronomer and navigator.
  • noun Anything lasting only for a day or for a very brief period; something that is ephemeral or transient; especially, a publication or periodical of only temporary interest or very short duration.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A diary; a journal.
  • noun A publication giving the computed places of the heavenly bodies for each day of the year, with other numerical data, for the use of the astronomer and navigator; an astronomical almanac.”
  • noun Any tabular statement of the assigned places of a heavenly body, as a planet or comet, on several successive days.
  • noun (Literature) A collective name for reviews, magazines, and all kinds of periodical literature.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete, singular or plural A journal or diary.
  • noun astronomy A table giving the apparent position of celestial bodies throughout the year; normally given as right ascension and declination
  • noun Software that calculates the apparent position of celestial bodies.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an annual publication containing astronomical tables that give the positions of the celestial bodies throughout the year

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Late Latin ephēmeris, from Greek, diary, from ephēmeros, daily; see ephemeral.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Modern Latin, from Ancient Greek ἐφημερίς ("diary, calendar"), from ἐφήμερος ("daily").

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Examples

  • Astronomy & Astrophysics says the team "presents an accurate, long-term ephemeris," and that "they participated in all the steps of a real research program, from initial observations to the publication process, and the result they obtained bears scientific significance."

    High School Students Get Published in Astrophysics Journal | Universe Today 2009

  • Just as in a circle, it is necessary to know three points to determine the circumference; so in ascertaining the elements of a comet, three different positions must be observed before what astronomers call its "ephemeris" can be established.

    Off on a Comet 1877

  • Well, it turns out that an accurate ephemeris (position table) of Saturn is useful for solar system tests of general relativity, predicting future occultations and eclipses, and navigation of spacecraft.

    URSI Update #2 Nicole 2009

  • If Cassini lasts til 2012, then they will have tracked Saturn for one quarter of its orbit, providing excellent data for the ephemeris.

    Archive 2009-01-08 Nicole 2009

  • Well, it turns out that an accurate ephemeris (position table) of Saturn is useful for solar system tests of general relativity, predicting future occultations and eclipses, and navigation of spacecraft.

    Archive 2009-01-08 Nicole 2009

  • If Cassini lasts til 2012, then they will have tracked Saturn for one quarter of its orbit, providing excellent data for the ephemeris.

    URSI Update #2 Nicole 2009

  • Still, she pulls out another chart and starts to scribble what she reads on the ephemeris.

    Vivian Rising Daniella Brodsky 2010

  • I sat with an open book, dragging my finger across the ephemeris boxes, scratching my head at logarithms.

    Vivian Rising Daniella Brodsky 2010

  • She looks up at me with a knowing smile: “This, my dear, is the ephemeris.”

    Vivian Rising Daniella Brodsky 2010

  • “Your ephemeris,” she says, finally, with a fair amount of bravado.

    Vivian Rising Daniella Brodsky 2010

Comments

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  • (n): a tabular statement of the assigned places of a celestial body for regular intervals. In book form, used by astrologers for accurate data when compiling astrological charts or horoscopes

    January 21, 2008

  • Bob tracked down a nautical ephemeris from the mid-nineteenth century, and reading the charts that logged every celestial event, he realized that Johnsen had not determined the coordinate by the seat of his britches.
    Gary Kinder, Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea
    According tot he ephemeris, a significant celestial event had occured just after eight o'clock on Sunday morning, and that is what Johnsen had shot with his sextant.
    Id.

    December 26, 2015