zenithal
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˈzɛnɪθəl/
- Specialized
- Astronomers often calculate the zenithal position of stars to improve their observations during the night.
- zenithal passage
Examples
-
The zenithal alignment of the observatory allows for optimal stargazing when the sky is clear.
-
They had likewise exchanged the zenithal passage of the Pleiades for the zenithal passage of the sun.
Academic text (1992) -
They had likewise exchanged the zenithal passage of the Pleiades for the zenithal passage of the sun.
Academic text (1992) -
Surely if this event heralded the beginning of a new cycle of years, it would have been most appropriate that the five-day unlucky period immediately precede the zenithal passage of the Pleiades, at least on the initial occasion.
Academic text (1992) -
If the nemontemi had immediately preceded the zenithal passage of the Pleiades on that initial occasion, it was necessary to find an alternative correlation that not only would demonstrate the fact but also would not do violence to the chronology of conquest events that Caso had so painstakingly worked out.
Academic text (1992) -
During the meteor shower, the zenithal point overhead provided the best view for stargazers.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Zenithal comes from zenith, which comes from an old Arabic word meaning 'direction above the head' and was used for the point straight overhead. So, zenithal means 'at or near the zenith', the spot in the sky directly above you.