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The choice of starting position from which to measure the Sun's motion across the celestial sphere is arbitrary. The equinoxes are preferred as an equinox marks the point in time when the Sun has neither northern nor southern declination but is crossing the celestial equator. Of the two possible
240:, this point gradually moves westwards at a rate of about one degree every 72 years. This means that, since the time of Hipparchus, it has shifted across the sky by about 30°, and is currently located within Pisces, near its border with
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meets the celestial equator as it travels from south to north at the first point of Aries, and from north to south at the first point of Libra. The first point of Aries is considered to be the celestial
224:'s eastward movement across the sky throughout the year, this western end of Aries was the point at which the Sun entered the constellation, hence the name
244:. The Sun now appears in Aries from late April until mid-May, though the constellation is still associated with the beginning of the northern spring.
181:, a time of optimism and beginnings where farmers began to sow or observed the first growth and blossoming of trees and summer crops. The naming of
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view (above a location) of constellations at a time of year from a given location have slowly moved west (by using solar
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defined it in 130 BCE, it was located in the western extreme of the constellation of Aries, near its border with
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equinoxes the ancient Greeks chose the March equinox as the starting point. This coincided with the festival of
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The first point of Aries is important to the fields of astronomy, nautical navigation and astrology.
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Rogers, John H. (1998). "Origins of the
Ancient Constellations: I. The Mesopotamian Traditions".
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record the geographic position of the first point of Aries as the reference for position of
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where the equinox was in its earliest tradition marked as in the early
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on the vernal equinox and marked the start of spring proper.
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since the positions were originally named in antiquity, the
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R Turcan. 1996. The Cults of the Roman Empire. pp. 44-47
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is similarly affected and no longer corresponds with the
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equinox in the southern), used as a reference point in
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The first point of Aries is so called because, when
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445:The Stargazer's Guide: How to Read Our Night Sky
424:Journal of the British Astronomical Association
165:equinox seen from the site of Pizzo Vento at
77:equinox in the northern hemisphere, and the
275:(the Cusp of Libra today is located within
197:. The time also corresponds to the time of
42:at both the left and right extremes of the
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29:
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109:, located exactly 180° from it. Due to
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571:Technical factors of Western astrology
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93:, it is one of the two points on the
34:The first point of Aries defines the
117:when at the March equinox is now in
201:of male calves, mules and donkeys,
24:
136:Along its yearly path through the
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551:Astronomical coordinate systems
193:by actual coincidence with the
407:. Princeton University Press.
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13:
1:
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249:Navigational ephemeris tables
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27:Point on the celestial sphere
556:Dynamics of the Solar System
83:celestial coordinate systems
7:
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257:precession of the equinoxes
111:precession of the equinoxes
10:
597:
443:Winterburn, Emily (2008).
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38:of (0°, 0°). It is on the
267:the drift is known). The
66:, is the location of the
405:Stars and Planets Guide
324:Mesopotamian Traditions
576:Pisces (constellation)
173:
105:, the other being the
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566:Aries (constellation)
403:Ridpath, Ian (2001).
383:Ridpath, Ian (1988).
295:"the head of the ram"
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54:) passing through it.
33:
121:; when it is at the
107:first point of Libra
62:, also known as the
60:first point of Aries
18:First Point of Aries
436:1998JBAA..108....9R
362:, pp. 230–231.
167:Fondachelli-Fantina
115:position of the Sun
50:(the orange dotted
36:ecliptic coordinate
281:sidereal astrology
255:. Due to the slow
253:navigational stars
174:
56:
561:Time in astronomy
458:978-0-06-178969-4
414:978-0-691-08913-3
374:, pp. 84–85.
191:Middle Bronze Age
187:Babylonian zodiac
123:September equinox
99:celestial equator
40:celestial equator
16:(Redirected from
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385:"Aries: The Ram"
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238:axial precession
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269:tropical Zodiac
236:Due to Earth's
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185:is late in the
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151:right ascension
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345:Aries: The Ram
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97:at which the
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64:cusp of Aries
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372:Ridpath 2001
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101:crosses the
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518:Outer space
482:Mathematics
430:(1): 9–28.
226:first point
125:, it is in
46:, with the
540:Categories
389:Star Tales
343:Star Tales
300:References
293:Ras Hammel
232:Definition
228:of Aries.
210:Hipparchus
199:castration
52:sine curve
546:Astronomy
494:Astronomy
341:Ridpath,
218:γ Arietis
44:sky chart
322:Rogers,
287:See also
242:Aquarius
195:Pleiades
103:ecliptic
79:autumnal
48:ecliptic
530:Science
468:Portals
432:Bibcode
203:Sanguia
179:Hilaria
157:History
129:(as of
71:equinox
455:
411:
394:24 May
279:). In
265:epochs
261:zenith
259:, the
214:Pisces
171:Sicily
140:, the
138:zodiac
119:Pisces
75:vernal
506:Stars
277:Virgo
183:Aries
131:J2000
127:Virgo
91:Aries
73:(the
68:March
453:ISBN
409:ISBN
396:2012
326:1998
58:The
428:108
222:Sun
142:Sun
133:).
89:of
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352:^
333:^
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20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
