Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Belonging to the number 90; pertaining to a nonagesimal.
- noun In astronomy, one (generally the upper) of the two points on the ecliptic which are 90 degrees from the intersections of that circle by the horizon.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Astron.) Of or pertaining to the ninetieth degree or to a nonagesimal.
- noun (Astron.) The middle or highest point of the part of the ecliptic which is at any given moment above the horizon. It is the ninetieth degree of the ecliptic, reckoned from the points in which it is intersected by the horizon.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun astronomy The middle to highest point of a part of an
ecliptic that is above thehorizon at any period of time.
Etymologies
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Examples
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His commentary on Aratus shows that he had expounded, and given a geometrical demonstration of, the methods necessary to find out the right and oblique ascensions of the points of the ecliptic and of the stars, the east point and the culminating point of the ecliptic, and the angle of the east, which is now called the nonagesimal degree.
The Old Roman World, : the Grandeur and Failure of Its Civilization. John Lord 1852
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“Jupiter nearest the nonagesimal had passed by four degrees the trine of Saturn; the Sun and Venus in conjunction were moving from the latter towards the former, nearly in sextiles with both: they were also removing from quadratures with Mars, to which Mercury was closely approaching: the moon drew near to the trine of the same planet, close to the Bull's Eye even in latitude.
Kepler Bryant, Walter W 1920
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If we place the standard of gravity in latitude 45° of the nonagesimal division, we shall have y '= G. (1 — .00275 cos2a — .0000000957/0 -
chained_bear commented on the word nonagesimal
"... in astronomy, the 90th degree of the ecliptic, reckoned from the eastern term or point. The altitude of the nonagesimal is equal to the angle of the east, and, if continued, passes through the poles of the ecliptic; whence the altitude of the nonagesimal at a given time, under a given elevation of the pole, is easily found. If the altitude of the n onagesimal be subtracted from 90 degrees, the remainder is the distance of the nonagesimal from the vertex."
—Falconer's New Universal Dictionary of the Marine (1816), 321
I hope someone understands this, cuz I sure don't.
October 14, 2008