point on the celestial sphere vertically above the observer; the verticals, or great circles through the zenith, meeting the horizon at right angles; and the declination circles, which pass through the north and south poles and cut the equator at right angles. Another important great circle was the meridian, passing through the zenith and the poles. The well-known Milky Way had been noticed, and was regarded as forming another great circle. There are also traces of the two chief methods in common use at the present day of indicating the position of a star on the celestial sphere, namely, by reference either to the equator or to the ecliptic. If through a star s we draw on the sphere a portion of a great circle s n, cutting the ecliptic ♈︎ n at right angles in n, and another great circle (a declination circle) cutting the equator at m, and if ♈︎ be the first point of Aries (§ 13), where the ecliptic crosses the equator, then the position of the star is completely defined either by the lengths of the arcs ♈︎ n, n s, which are called the celestial longitude and latitude respectively, or by the arcs ♈︎ m, m s, called respectively the right ascension and declination.[1] For some purposes it is more convenient to find the position of the star by the first method, i.e. by reference to the ecliptic; for other purposes in the second way, by making use of the equator.
34. One of the applications of Spherics was to the construction of sun-dials, which were supposed to have been originally introduced into Greece from Babylon, but which were much improved by the Greeks, and extensively used both in Greek and in mediaeval times. The proper graduation of sun-dials placed in various positions, horizontal, vertical, and obhque, required considerable mathematical skill. Much attention was also given to the time of the rising and setting of the various constellations, and to similar questions.
35. The discovery of the spherical form of the earth led to a scientific treatment of the differences between the seasons in different parts of the earth, and to a corresponding division of the earth into zones. We have already seen that the height of the pole above the horizon varies in
- ↑ Most of these names are not Greek, but of later origin.
