by Nitpicker » Sat Oct 19, 2013 2:20 am
Chris Peterson wrote:Nitpicker wrote:The latitude doesn't really matter. If you face South (the direction for standard astronomical reckoning) the sky is the "right way up". If you face North, the sky is "upside down".
Not sure where this is coming from. The astronomical convention is north up, east left. That's what you get when you lie on your back with your feet pointing south. Is that what you mean by facing south? Virtually all star charts are plotted with north up.
I agree with North up and East left, when you look at a star chart in celestial coordinates. I think we are talking about the same thing.
When you go outside and stand up and face South (or lie down with feet pointing South), then when you look upwards in the sky, North is up, South is down, East is left and West is right. This is standard/common astronomical reckoning (where an azimuth of zero points South). It probably stems from when you think of a plan map of the Ecliptic, you conventionally look "down" on the Ecliptic in a Southward direction (similar to the perspective when you stand on the North Pole, I suppose).
However, when you face North (or lie down with feet pointing North) and look upwards in the sky, North is down, South is up, East is right and West is left. This is an "upside down" sky.
[quote="Chris Peterson"][quote="Nitpicker"]The latitude doesn't really matter. If you face South (the direction for standard astronomical reckoning) the sky is the "right way up". If you face North, the sky is "upside down".[/quote]
Not sure where this is coming from. The astronomical convention is north up, east left. That's what you get when you lie on your back with your feet pointing south. Is that what you mean by facing south? Virtually all star charts are plotted with north up.[/quote]
I agree with North up and East left, when you look at a star chart in celestial coordinates. I think we are talking about the same thing.
When you go outside and stand up and face South (or lie down with feet pointing South), then when you look upwards in the sky, North is up, South is down, East is left and West is right. This is standard/common astronomical reckoning (where an azimuth of zero points South). It probably stems from when you think of a plan map of the Ecliptic, you conventionally look "down" on the Ecliptic in a Southward direction (similar to the perspective when you stand on the North Pole, I suppose).
However, when you face North (or lie down with feet pointing North) and look upwards in the sky, North is down, South is up, East is right and West is left. This is an "upside down" sky.