Glossary term: 方位角
Description: 在水平坐標系中，方位角指的是物體所在的方向（沿地平線的角度）。方位角以度為單位，從正北向正東方向測量。方位角的數值範圍覆蓋完整的圓周，從0度到360度。換句話說，如果在天球上畫一條從天體到地平線並垂直於地平線的假想弧線，方位角會告訴你這條弧線與地平線相交的位置。一個位於正北的天體，其方位角為0度；位於正東的天體，其方位角為90度，依此類推。在一些國家使用的較早的教科書中，方位角的測量方式是從正南開始，向西測量。因此，在這些教科書中的方位角數值會比現代標準的方位角值偏移180度。
Related Terms:
See this term in other languages
Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval
This is an automated transliteration of the simplified Chinese translation of this term
The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".
If you notice a factual or translation error in this glossary term or definition then please get in touch.
Related Diagrams
Horizontal Coordinate System
Caption: This image shows the horizontal coordinate system of an observer on Earth. On the right we see the coordinate system in the local context of the observer. The observer appears here as a point surrounded by the celestial sphere. The ground appears as a plane, while the Earth is round, we can approximate the ground in the area around the observer as a plane. The line where this plane intersects with the celestial sphere is the horizon. The point directly above the observer is the zenith, the point directly below the observer is the nadir which is hidden by the ground.
Two coordinates define this coordinate system, altitude and azimuth, hence the reason this sometimes called an alt-az coordinate system. The altitude is zero at the horizon, maximum (90°) at the zenith and minimum (-90°) at the nadir. Azimuth is the angle around the horizon. Most commonly this is defined to be zero in the direction of north. Any point on the celestial sphere can be defined by these two coordinates. However what objects appear on these position will depend on the time and the location of the observer.
On the left-hand part of the diagram, we can see that when we put the observer and their local horizontal coordinate system in a global context, that the parts of the sky the observer can see depend on their position on the Earth and on the rotation of the Earth. The zenith points perpendicular to the Earth's surface so the position on the sky the zenith and nadir correspond to is dependent on the observer's latitude. The horizon also depends on the observer's position on the Earth.
Credit: Maria Cristina Fortuna/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons 姓名標示 4.0 國際 (CC BY 4.0) icons
