Aberration of Light
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Notes
(1) All objects appear displaced towards the
direction of the observer's motion (except objects at θ = 0° and θ
= 180°. The greatest
displacements are on the great circle in the sky,
perpendicular to the observer's direction of motion. On this great circle,
Δθ = v/c.
(2) For the orbital
motion of the earth v/c = (29.75 km/s)/(299792.458 km/s) = 9.926
´ 10-5 = 20.47".
The apex is a point on the ecliptic
about 90° west of the solar center.
(3) The diurnal apex, associated with the earth's rotation is the east
point of the horizon. The corrections to equatorial coordinates are
Δα
= 0.3198" cos φ cos HA sec δ and
Δδ
= 0.3198" cos φ sin HA sin δ, where φ is the
observer's latitude.
(4) Corrections for both the earth-moon barycenter rotation, and
motion about the earth-Jupiter center of mass can be as large as 0.008".
(5) No correction is made for galactic rotation even though this can be
as large as ~3', since this correction is virtually constant over many
millenia.