almucantar

almucantar
/al"myooh kan'teuhr/, n. Astron.
a circle on the celestial sphere parallel to the horizon; the locus of all points of a given altitude. Also called parallel of altitude.
[1350-1400; prob. < ML almucantarath < Ar al-muqantarat the almucantars, equiv. to al the + muquantarat sundial, deriv. of qantarah arch; r. almicanter, ME almicanteras (pl.) < MF almicantarath < ML]

* * *

      in astronomy, any circle of the celestial sphere parallel to the horizon; when two objects are on the same almucantar, they have the same altitude. The term also refers to instruments of a pattern invented by the U.S. astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler (Chandler, Seth Carlo) for determining latitude or time by observing the times of transit of stars across a fixed almucantar.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Almucantar — hat Seth C. Chandler (in Cambridge, Mass., U.S.) ein von ihm 1879 konstruiertes, zur Beobachtung gleicher Sternhöhen bestimmtes Instrument genannt. Auf einer zentralen vertikalen Säule, um die der ganze Oberteil des Instruments drehbar ist, ruht… …   Lexikon der gesamten Technik

  • Almucantar — Al mu*can tar, n. [F. almucantarat, almicantarat, ultimately fr. Ar. al muqantar[=a]t, pl., fr. qantara to bend, arch.] (Astron.) A small circle of the sphere parallel to the horizon; a circle or parallel of altitude. Two stars which have the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Almucantar — An Almucantar, also spelled almucantarat or almacantara, is a circle on the celestial sphere parallel to the horizon. Two stars that lie the same almucantar have the same altitude.Almucantar staffAn almucantar staff is an instrument chiefly used… …   Wikipedia

  • almucantar — noun /ælməˈkæntə/ a small circle on the celestial sphere, parallel to the horizon, that is used in astronomy and navigation to show altitude of a star or any other heavenly body …   Wiktionary

  • almucantar — [ˌalmə kantə] noun Astronomy 1》 a circle on the celestial sphere parallel to the horizon. 2》 a telescope mounted on a float resting on mercury, used to determine stellar altitude and azimuth. Origin ME: from med. L. almucantarath or obs. Fr.… …   English new terms dictionary

  • almucantar — al·mu·can·tar …   English syllables

  • almucantar — /ælmjəˈkæntə/ (say almyuh kantuh) noun 1. a circle of altitude, parallel to the horizontal plane. 2. an instrument for measuring altitudes and azimuths. Also, almacantar. {Middle French almucantarat, from Arabic qanṭarah bridge} …  

  • almucantar —   n. Astronomy, circle of celestial sphere parallel with horizon; parallel of altitude; telescope that, in rotating, sweeps out curves of this kind …   Dictionary of difficult words

  • almucantar — n. (also almacantar) Astron. a line of constant altitude above the horizon. Etymology: ME f. med.L almucantarath or F almucantara etc., f. Arab. almukantarat sundial f. kantara arch …   Useful english dictionary

  • almucantar staff — noun : an ancient instrument having an arc of 15 degrees and used at sea to take observations of the sun s amplitude and to find the variation of the compass …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”