Glossary & Formulas

Abbreviations:

Some abbreviations used in ChView files are:

a = semi-major axis of an elliptical orbit

badHipPlx = Hipparcos catalogue parallax with very large standard error

B1900/B1950 = stardate 1900/1950 of celestial position (of RA and Dec following)

brownDwarfComp = star has brown dwarf companion

comp"x"? = possible companion object"x"

Dec = declination of celestial position

double-lineB = spectroscopic binary ("double") inferred from double-line spectra.

dia = diameter (e.g., as a fraction of Sol's diameter)e = eccentricity of an orbit; or

e = eccentricity of orbit

e = standard error of parallax (e_Plx), if following "Plx=xx.xx,e=x.xx."

HerbigObj = pre-main sequence, Herbig-Haro (HH) object

inclin="xxx"d = degrees of inclination of orbit

Jmass = equivalent Jupiter masses

Mv = absolute magnitude

optComp"x" = the star's visual companion "x" is not gravitationally bound

optComp"x"?= gravitation binding of companion "x" is unknown from reference

P = period of orbit

planetComp = star has planetary companion

Plx = parallax (usually from Hipparcos satellite mission)

PreMainSeq = pre-main sequence object (e.g., T-Tauri star)

RA = right ascension of celestial position

sep" = binary separation in arcseconds (")

single-lineB = spectroscopic binary inferred from single-line spectra

SolMass = equivalent solar masses

spec.dou. = star has a spectroscopic double (or "binary")

spec.dou.B = this star is a spectroscopic binary

TycPlx = Tycho catalogue parallax; has larger error than Hipparcos parallax

V(AB) = apparent magnitude of stars A and B

var = variable star

YalePlxBetter = Yale parallax believed to be better than Hipparcos parallax

Absolute Visual Magnitude (Mv) and Luminosity (L):

Absolute visual magnitude is the intrinsic brightness (luminosity) of a celestial body when viewed at a distance of
10 parsecs from Earth. The luminosity of a star is typically defined as the quantity of light (radiant energy) emitted
by that celestial body relative to that radiated by Sol, our sun. Astronomers relate the two in the following manner:

Mv = 4.8 - [2.5 * log (Lstar/Lsol)]

Astronomical Unit (AU):

Distance from Earth to the Sun, 149,598,770 kilometers (km) or about 93 million miles.

Binary Separation:

For close angular separations, where gravitational binding is likely, the following formula can be used to convert
angular separation to distance:

d = distance between stars 1 and 2,

r1 = distance to star 1,

r2 = distance to star 2, and

theta = degrees of angular separation, then

d^2 = (r1)^2 + (r2)^2 - [2(r1)(r2)*cosine(theta)].

Where separation -- compared to distance from Earth -- is very close so that, for example, we're trying to measure
a separation of less than a tenth of a light-year, the above formula can be collapsed to:

r ~ r1 ~ r2, so that: d = r * {[2(1 - cosine(theta))]^(1/2)},

where binary separation is given arcseconds(", at 3600" per degree), or fractions thereof such as 0.1", and distance
is converted to astronomical units from light-years (ly), so that:

r = ly * (206,265 AU/3.2616pc) and

theta = ("/3600) * (@Pi/180, for Lotus/Quattro Pro).

Black Hole:

A hypothetical celestial body of extreme density whose gravitational strength is great enough -- within a certain
distance dependent on its mass -- to prevent the escape of light (i.e., photons). In theory, black holes that result
from the collapse of very large stars should have over six solar masses. Matter falling into black holes may emit
detectable x-rays; one x-ray source in the star files is a possible companion to NN, an unnumbered Gliese and
Jahreiss catalogue star, that may be located 68 light-years away.

Distance Modulus:

Absolute visual magnitude (Mv) is derived from apparent magnitude (M), the apparent visual brightness of a
celestial body without adjusting for distance from Earth, using distance (d) in parsecs from Earth, in the following
manner:

Mv - M = 5 - [5 * log d]

Dust, Stellar Disks:

In recent years, astronomers have been able to detect enormous disks of dust around some stars, especially young
T-Tauri types. Some young, local stars with substantial dust include Beta Pictoris, Fomalhaut, and Vega. At least
one astronomer may have detected gaps within the inner dust disk of Beta Pictoris, possible evidence of planetary
formation. Dust has also been detected around Epsilon Eridani, Ross 128, 61 Cygni2, and Tau Ceti.

Equatorial System Coordinates (x,y,z):

In ChView, x,y,z equatorial system (celestial) coordinates are presented in light-years (d) from Earth/Sol, where z is
along the Earth's polar axis (+ towards celestial north), x is in the plane of the equator (+ in the direction of the
vernal equinox), and y is perpendicular to x. These coordinates are derived from the distance of a celestial object
from Earth/Sol and converting right ascension (RA) from hours to degrees (multiply by 15) and declination (Dec) in
degrees; trigonometic functions in Lotus and Quattro Pro spreadsheets require that degrees be converted to
radians, by multiplying by @Pi/180.

x= d * Cosine(RA*15) * Cosine(Dec);

y= d * Sine(RA*15) * Cosine(Dec); and

z= d * Sine(Dec).

Flare Stars (UV Ceti type):

Some low mass (M or K) dwarfs can "flare" suddenly and enormously (compared with our own sun's puny "solar"
flares), brightening the star from one to six magnitudes and lasting for several minutes (e.g., UV Ceti B, Luyten 726-
8 B, Kruger 60 B, Ross 154, or Proxima Centauri).

Habitable Zone (HZ):

From Kaltenegger et al, 2010 (page 5): "For a given planet (assuming a certain atmosphere composition and
albedo) the surface temperature depends on the distance from the host star, the luminosity [L] of the host star,
and the normalized solar flux factor Seff that takes the wavelength dependent intensity distribution of the
spectrum of different spectral classes into account. The distance d of the HZ can be calculated as (Kasting et al,
1993) :

d = 1 AU * [ (L = Lsun) / Seff ] ([take square root])

where Seff is 1.90, 1.41, 1.05, and 1.05 for F, G, K, and M stars respectively for the inner edge of the HZ (where
runaway greenhouse occurs) and 0.46, 0.36, 0.27, and 0.27 for F, G, K, and M stars respectively for the outer edge
of the HZ (assuming a maximum greenhouse effect in the planet's atmosphere). These calculations were originally
done for F0, G2, and M0 spectra and will be updated for all spectral sub classes (Kaltenegger, Segura, and Kasting
in prep)."

Lifetime, Stellar:

Lifetime = (Solar lifetime = 10 billion years)

* [(1 / solar masses) raised to 2.5 power)]

M7-8 = (10) * [(1/0.1)^2.5)] = 10 * 316 = 3.2 trillion years

M0 = 0.5 = 5.7 = 57 billion years

K0 = 0.7 = 2.4 = 24 billion years

Sol(G2) = 1.0 = 1.0 = 10 billion years

F-class = 1.3 = 0.52 = 5.2 billion years

A-class = 2.5 = 0.10 = 1.0 billion years

B-class = 10 = 0.0032 = 32 million years

O-class = 25 = 0.00032 = 3.2 million years

O3 = 120 = 0.00006 = 63 thousand years

Light-Year:
9.4 trillion km, almost six trillion miles, or 0.3066 parsecs.

Luminosity (L) and Mass (m):

O - K2: Lstar/Lsol = [m(star)/m(sol)] to 4th power.

K5 - M5: Lstar/Lsol = 0.6 * {[m(star)/m(sol)] squared}.

Magnitude:

A number representing the intrinsic or apparent brightness of a celestial body on a logarithmic scale, in which a
difference of one unit corresponds to the multiplication or division of the brightness of light by 2.512.

Mass of a Binary System:

When orbital information is available, the total mass of a binary system can be calculated as follows:

m1 + m2 = (a^3) / (P^2), where

m1, m2 = masses of objects 1 and 2, as a ratio of Sol's,

a = angular separation of the objects in AUs, and

P = period in years.

Neutron Star:

A super dense, stellar remnant of between 1.4 and six solar masses and of small, asteroid-like size (e.g., a mile in
diameter) that: may result from the supernova explosion of a very large star; is composed of closely packed
nuclear particles (primarily neutrons); and may be detectable through the emission of X rays. One x-ray source in
the star files is NN, an unnumbered Gliese and Jahreiss star, which may be 68 light-years from Earth.

Optical Companion (optComp):

A star's visual companion. "OptCompC?" means that the reference used did not indicate or rule out that visual
companion "C" may be gravitationally bound to stars A and B.

Parsec (pc):

3.2616 light-years or 206,265 AUs; the distance at which the Earth's orbital radius would subtend an angle of one
second of arc.
Speed of Light:

299,792.458 km/second or over 186 thousand miles/second.

Spectroscopic Doubles (spec.dou. or SB):

The stars in these binary systems are so close together that only analysis of the spectra of their light (resulting in
spectral lines that are doubled and/or that oscillate) reveals their binary nature (e.g., Groombridge 34 A or Algol).

Superflares:

Some sun-like ("Sol-type") stars occasionally produce flares that release between 100 and 10 million times more
energy than the largest flares ever observed on the sun. These "superflares" last from one hour to one week and
increase the normal luminosity of a star as much as 1,000 times. If our sun were to produce a large superflare,
Earth's ozone layer would be destroyed and ice on the daylight side of moons as far out as those of Jupiter or even
Saturn would be melted, producing vast floodplains that refreeze after the flare subsides. None have been
detected in our solar system. In 1998, nine Sol-type stars (naked-eye objects Omicron Aquilae, Kappa Ceti, and Pi1
Ursae Majoris, as well as MQ or 5 Serpentis, UU Coronae Borealis, S Fornacis, MT Tauri, BD+10 2783, and
Groombridge 1830) were found to have produced superflares, on average, about once per century. None of these
stars rotate particularly fast, have close binary companions, or are very young. Unlike previously known "flare
stars" (M-class), a superflare in a Sol-type star (as hypothesized by a member of the Yale team conducting the
three-year spectroscopic study of F8-G8, main-sequence stars) may be caused by the interaction of the magnetic
field of a giant planet ("hot Jupiter") in a tight orbit with the star's own magnetic field.

Variables, Eclipsing:

Also known as "eclipsing binaries", changes in the apparent brightness of these stars are caused by one star of the
binary system passing in front of the other -- relative to an observer on Earth. Some are at maximum brightness
most of the time (Algol type, EA). Others involve stars that are so close together that their shapes are distorted
into two "eggs" in near physical contact; of these, dwarf pairs may have periods of less than one day (W Ursae
Majoris type, EW), while others exhibit continuous light-variations that alternate in length between short and long
(Beta Lyrae, EB).

Variables, Pulsating:

Some stars actually expand and contract in size over time (months to seconds), which changes their brightness.
Many such stars (Mira, semi-regular, Cepheids, RR Lyrae, RV Tauri, Beta Canis Majoris or Beta Cephei, Alpha Cygni
and irregular types) are evolving off the main sequence, and thus include many subgiant, giant, and supergiant
stars that are exhausting their core supply of hydrogen and fusing heavier elements in concentric gaseous shells.
Delta Scuti type (which have small amplitudes and periods from 0.02 to 0.25 of a day) are young A and F stars, and
many are spectroscopic binaries; subdwarfs of this type are call SX Phoenicis stars. ZZ Ceti type are white dwarfs
with small amplitudes and periods as short as 30 seconds.

Variables, Eruptive:

These stars include novae and dwarf novae, flare stars, nova-like, P Cygni, nebular, and R Coronae Borealis
variables.

Variables, Rotating:

Exhibiting small amplitudes, variations in brightness may be due to non-uniform surface brightness, fast rotation
and great chromospheric activity, and binaries where one companion is rapidly rotating and large (FGK giant or
subgiant) or where the stars are very close and gravitationally distorted (ellipsoidal variables).

Variables, Secular:

Stars such as Beta Leonis, Theta Eridani, and Delta Ursae Majoris may have brightened or faded over historical time
periods. These "estimated" variations, however, are generally thought to be suspect, due to the subjectiveness of
eye-ball observation in less technologically advanced times.

Altitude

The Altitude of a celestial body is its angular distance above the Horizon. The Altitude of a celestial body
may be measured with a sextant to give the measured Altitude.

The Altitude as calculated from the Estimated Position using Sight Reduction Tables, or some other
means of calculating what the Altitude should be from your Estimated Position, is called the calculated
Altitude.

By comparing the measured Altitude to the calculated Altitude for your Estimated Position, a Position
Line may be drawn on your map or chart.

Artificial Horizon

If sight of the natural Horizon is not available, an Artificial Horizon is some means by which an observer
can refer to a horizontal plane through his position. With a marine sextant, it is common to use a mirror
in the horizontal plane. The angle between the celestial body as seen in the sky and as reflected in the
mirror is measured with the sextant. Halving this angle gives the Altitude of the celestial body above the
Horizon.
Azimuth

The Azimuth of a celestial body is the bearing of the body from your position, as measured clockwise
from true North. So for example, at mid-day (strictly, at local apparent noon), the sun will be in the South
and have an Azimuth of 180°.

Azimuth Quadrant

The celestial body will be in one of four Azimuth Quadrants. If it is to the NORTH WEST, (Azimuth 0° to
90°), then it is in the NORTH WEST quadrant and so on for the SOUTH WEST, SOUTH EAST and
NORTH EAST.

Declination

The Declination of a celestial body is the latitude of its Geographical Position North or South of the
Equator.

Great Circle

A plane through the centre of the earth intersects the surface of the earth on a Great Circle. So the centres
of Great Circles are always at the centre of the earth.

Greenwich Hour Angle (GHA)

The Greenwich Hour Angle (GHA) is the angular distance to the Meridian of the celestial body, as
measured Westwards from the Greenwich Meridian (0° Longitude, also called the Prime Meridian).

Geographical Position

The Geographical Position of a celestial body it that point on the earth's surface where the body is directly
overhead, or at its zenith. This position is usually expressed in terms of the Greenwich Hour
Angle (GHA) and the Declination (Dec.) of the celestial body.

Horizon

The sensible Horizon is a horizontal plane through the observer's position. Here, "horizontal" means
normal to a plumbline at the observers position.

The visible Horizon, as seen from a ship at sea, is actually at an angle slightly below the sensible Horizon
due to the curvature of the earth. Almanacs will give "Dip Tables" to account for the difference in angle
between the visible and sensible Horizons.

Index Error

If the index mirror in a sextant is not set at the correct angle, there will be a systematic error in the
measured Altitude called the Index Error.

With a marine sextant, it is a simple matter to determine the Index Error each time the sextant is used by
viewing a celestial body through the horizon mirror and the via the index mirror at the same time. The
two images should coincide when the index arm indicates a reading of 0° on the arc. Any difference from
exactly zero degrees is the Index Error. The measured Altitude can then be corrected for the Index Error.
With a bubble sextant, the Index error needs to be determined by a set of sights on a celestial body such
as Polaris (which moves very little in the sky) from a known position. The difference between the
measured Altitude and the calculated Altitude is then due to Index Error. Obviously, it is not possible to
determine the Index Error for a bubble sextant very frequently.

Local Hour Angle (LHA)

The Local Hour Angle (LHA) is the angular distance to the Meridian of the celestial body's Geographical
Position, as measured Westwards from the observer's local Meridian.

The Local Hour Angle is calculated from the Greewich Hour Angle (GHA) of the celestial body and the
Longitude of your Estimated Position in the following way:-

LHA = GHA - Longitude, if the Longitude is West

LHA = GHA + Longitude, if the Longitude is East

Meridian

A Meridian is a Great Circle line which passes through the poles of the earth. A local Meridian is one that
passes through the observer's local position. The Greenwich Meridian passes through Greenwich,
England, and is defined as having 0° Longitude.

Nautical Almanac
The "Nautical Almanac" is published by Her Majesty's Stationary Office in the United Kingdom and by
the US Government Printing Office in the United States. It gives the positions for the Sun, the Moon, the
visible planets and 58 selected stars for each day of one year, from which the Geographical Position of
those celestial bodies may be obtained. It also has a concise set of Sight Reduction Tables.

Navigational Triangle

The so called "Navigational Triangle" is a spherical triangle formed on the earth's surface by the North
Pole (true North), the observer's Estimated Position and theGeographical Positionof the celestial body.
These points are connected by Great Circles, two of which are Meridians. One Meridian is the Longitude
for the Estimated Position and the other is theGreenwhich Hour Angle of the Geographical Position.

There are six angles associated with any spherical triangle. In the Navigational triangle, three of these
angles are known, leaving three unknown angles. We need to find two of them to determine
the Azimuth and the calculated Altitude.

The calculated Altitude is derived from the angle 90°- Alt. which is shown in the drawing. When this
angle is zero for example, the celestial body will be directly overhead and the Altitude of the celestial
body will be 90° above the horizon.
Similarly, the Azimuth angle shown is the obverse of the included angle in the triangle which is actually
calculated. It is shown this way because the Azimuth is defined as the bearing of the Geographical
Position as measured clockwise from true North. If the GP and the EP were swapped over in this
diagram, the Azimuth would then be the included angle in the triangle.

Using the Estimated Position and the Geographical Position as inputs, Sight Reduction Tables will give
the calculated Altitude and Azimuth as outputs. However, it is fairly easy to derive the calculated
Altitude and Azimuth on a calculator using the equations:-

Here, Dec. is the Declination of the celestial body, Lat. is the Latitude of your estimated position
and LHA is theLocal Hour Angle between the two positions. (Use the convention that Declinations and
Latitudes South of the equator are negative.)

The Azimuth derived using these formulae will always be an angle less than 90°, so a correction will need
to made depending on the Azimuth Quadrant in which the observed celestial body is located.

If the observed body is in the WEST and SOUTH, add 180° to obtain the correct Azimuth.
If the observed body is in the WEST and NORTH, subtract the derived Azimuth from 360° to obtain the
correct Azimuth.
If the observed body is in the EAST and SOUTH, subtract the derived Azimuth from 180° to obtain the
correct Azimuth.
If the observed body is in the EAST and NORTH, the derived Azimuth is correct.
Position, Estimated

The Estimated Position is the latitude and longitude at which the observer estimates his position to be,
before fixing his actual position with the use of a sextant.

Position, Fixed

The Fixed Position is the latitude and longitude at which two or more Position Lines intersect on the map
or chart.
Position Line

When you
measure
the Altitude of
a celestial
body with a
sextant, you
know you are
somewhere on
a circle of
equal Altitude
which can be
drawn upon
the earth's
surface,
centred on
the Geographi
cal
Position (GP).
On the much
smaller scale
of a map or
chart, the
circle of equal
Altitude
approximates
to a straight
line running
through it.
This line is
called the Position Line. Usually you can be reasonably sure that you are somewhere near your Estimated
Position (EP), so you will be somewhere on the Position Line as drawn on the map or chart.

Using the Geographical Position and the Estimated Position, Sight Reduction Tableswill give you a
calculated Altitude from the Estimated Position, and an angle for theAzimuth from the Estimated
Position to the Geographical Position.

To construct a Position Line on your map or chart, an Azimuth line is drawn radially from the Estimated
Position. The Position Line is drawn at 90° to the Azimuth. It is drawn at a distance from the Estimated
Position equal to the difference between the calculated and measured Altitudes. If the measured Altitude
angle is greater than the calculated Altitude, your actual position is closer to the Geographical position
than the Estimated Position and the Position Line is drawn towards the Geographical Position.

If the measured Altitude is less than the calculated Altitude, your actual position is further away from the
Geographical Position than your Estimated Position. A contra-Azimuth line is drawn from the Estimated
Position at an angle equal to the Azimuth + 180°. The Position Line is then drawn at 90° to this line.

Refraction

Having passed through the vacuum of outer space, the light from the celestial body has to pass through
the atmosphere before it is observed using a sextant. The atmosphere tends to bend the path of the light
as it passes through, so that the celestial body appears higher in the sky than it would be if there was no
atmosphere.

A calculated Altitude assumes the earth has no atmosphere, so the sextant Altitude has to be corrected for
Refraction so that it can be compared to the calculated Altitude. Refraction tables are always included in
Almanacs used for celestial navigation.

Sight Reduction Tables

Sight Reduction Tables are sets of tables from which the calculated Altitude and Azimuth of a celestial
body may be obtained from an Estimated Position. They range from a set of volumes that would fill a
long shelf, to slim volumes of "concise" sight reduction tables. In general, the larger the volume(s) of
tables, the quicker they are to use. The Nautical Almanac has a set of concise sight reduction tables in the
back, as does the "Long Term Almanac 2000 - 2050" by Geoffrey Kolbe.

Both time and hour angle are a measure of the phase of rotation of the Earth, since both indicate the
angular distance of Hour angle, however, applies to any point on the celestial sphere. Time might be used
in this respect, but only the apparent Sun, mean Sun, the first point of Aries, and occasionally the Moon,
are commonly used.
Hour angles are usually expressed in arc units, and are measured from the upper branch of the celestial
meridian. Time is customarily expressed in time units. Sidereal time is measured from the upper branch of
the celestial meridian, like hour angle, but solar time is measured from the lower branch. Thus, LMT =
LHA mean Sun plus or minus 180°, LAT = LHA apparent Sun plus orminus 180°, and LST = LHA Aries.
As with time, local hour angle (LHA) at two places differs by their difference in longitude, and LHA at
longitude 0° is called Greenwich hour angle (GHA). In addition, it is often convenient to express hour
angle in terms of the shorter arc between the local meridian and the body. This is similar to measurement
of longitude from the Greenwich meridian. Local hour angle measured in this way is called meridian angle
(t), which is labeled east or west, like longitude, to indicate the direction of measurement. A westerly
meridian angle is numerically equal to LHA, while an easterly meridian angle is equal to 360° - LHA. LHA
= t (W), and LHA = 360° - t (E). Meridian angle is used in the solution of thenavigational triangle.
Example: Find LHA and t of the Sun at GMT   on June 1, 1975, for long. 118°48.2' W.
Solution:
GMT June 1
225°35.7'
6°04.0'
GHA 231°39.7'
λ 118°48.2' W
LHA 112°51.5'
t 112°51.5' W
1.  Sun Sights. 

A. To find Hc (calculated altitude) (Do this calculation first as the Hc is required to

find Azimuth)

Required:   (a) LHA of body   (b) DR Latitude   (c) Declination of body

sin Hc = 

(cos LHA x cos DR lat x cos dec)  + or - (sin DR lat x sin dec)

Note: use + if lat and dec are same names.

B. To find Azimuth (Zn)

Required:   (a)  DR Latitude   (b) Declination of body   (c) Hc (from first

calculation)

cos Az * =  

sin dec +/- (sin Hc x sin DR lat) divided by (cos Hc x cos DR lat)

Note: use + when lat  and dec are of opposite names.

* Remember Az is the azimuth angle. To get Zn (Azimuth) apply the rules:

Northern Lat:  LHA > 180 deg. Azimuth = Azimuth Angle.   LHA < 180 deg. Zn =
360 - Az

Southern Lat.  LHA > 180 deg. Zn = 180 deg. - Az.   LHA< 180 deg. Zn = 180 + Az  

Ian Crowson. April 2008