Chasing Shadows

Azimuth

An azimuth ( (listen)) (from the pl. form of the Arabic noun "السَّمْت" as-samt, meaning "the direction") is an angular measurement in a spherical coordinate system. The vector from an observer (origin) to a point of interest is projected perpendicularly onto a reference plane; the angle between the projected vector and a reference vector on the reference plane is called the azimuth. When used as a celestial coordinate, the azimuth is the horizontal direction of a star or other astronomical object in the sky. The star is the point of interest, the reference plane is the local area (e.g. a circular area 5 km in radius at sea level) around an observer on Earth's surface, and the reference vector points to true north. The azimuth is the angle between the north v… more »