Equator

An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and midway between the poles. The Equator usually refers to the Earth's equator: an imaginary line on the Earth's surface equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole, dividing the Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere. Other planets and astronomical bodies have equators similarly defined. Earth's equator is about 40,075 kilometres (24,901 mi) long; 78.7% is across water and 21.3% is over land.

Geodesy of the Earth's Equator

The latitude of the Earth's Equator is by definition 0° (zero degrees). The Equator is one of the five notable circles of latitude on Earth, with the others being the two Polar Circles: the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle, and the two Tropical Circles: the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The Equator is the only line of latitude which is also a great circle. The imaginary circle obtained when the Earth's equator is projected onto the sky is called the celestial equator.

Equator (disambiguation)

An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and midway between the poles.

Equator may also refer to:

See also

Celestial equator

The celestial equator is a great circle on the imaginary celestial sphere, in the same plane as the Earth's equator. In other words, it is a projection of the terrestrial equator out into space. As a result of the Earth's axial tilt, the celestial equator is inclined by 23.4° with respect to the ecliptic plane.

An observer standing on the Earth's equator visualizes the celestial equator as a semicircle passing directly overhead through the zenith. As the observer moves north (or south), the celestial equator tilts towards the opposite horizon. The celestial equator is defined to be infinitely distant (since it is on the celestial sphere); thus the observer always sees the ends of the semicircle disappear over the horizon exactly due east and due west, regardless of the observer's position on Earth. (At the poles, though, the celestial equator would be parallel to the horizon.) At all latitudes the celestial equator appears perfectly straight because the observer is only finitely far from the plane of the celestial equator but infinitely far from the celestial equator itself.

Sunstorm

Sunstorm may refer to:

Sunstorm (John Stewart album)

Sunstorm is the fifth album by folk musician John Stewart, former member of the Kingston Trio, released in 1972.

Track listing

All compositions by John Stewart except where noted.

Side one

Side two

Recorded at Amigo Studios, North Hollywood, and Independence Recorders, Studio City.

"An Account of Haley's Comet" features the voice of John Stewart's father, the horse trainer John S. Stewart.

Personnel

Sunstorm (novel)

Sunstorm is a 2005 science fiction novel co-written by Arthur C. Clarke (author of 2001: A Space Odyssey) and Stephen Baxter. It is the second book in the series A Time Odyssey. The books in this series are often likened to the Space Odyssey series, although the Time Odyssey novels ostensibly deal with time where the Space Odyssey novels dealt with space. The first book in the series was Time's Eye.

Plot summary

Sunstorm opens with the last chapter of Time's Eye as its initial chapter, and Bisesa Dutt is in London, reunited with her daughter. It is 9 June 2037, the day after her helicopter was shot down in the North Western Frontier Province of Pakistan. The five years that she spent on Mir, an alternate Earth, are now only memories (though the fact that her body has aged five years since 8 June 2037, will eventually serve as some confirmation of her story).

In the meantime, a major solar event occurs on 9 June, disrupting virtually all of the Earth's electronic hardware. Dramatic as it is, this phenomenon is only a minor precursor of a far more massive solar eruption about five years off. Scientific models of the projected 2042 event make clear that the Earth will be sterilised completely by the upcoming solar burst. The effects will be so powerful as to even endanger astronauts on Mars.