Class CalendarAstronomer.Ecliptic

  • Enclosing class:
    CalendarAstronomer

    public static final class CalendarAstronomer.Ecliptic
    extends java.lang.Object
    Represents the position of an object in the sky relative to the ecliptic, the plane of the earth's orbit around the Sun. This is a spherical coordinate system in which the latitude specifies the position north or south of the plane of the ecliptic. The longitude specifies the position along the ecliptic plane relative to the "First Point of Aries", which is the Sun's position in the sky at the Vernal Equinox.

    Note that Ecliptic objects are immutable and cannot be modified once they are constructed. This allows them to be passed and returned by value without worrying about whether other code will modify them.

    See Also:
    CalendarAstronomer.Equatorial
    • Field Summary

      Fields 
      Modifier and Type Field Description
      double latitude
      The ecliptic latitude, in radians.
      double longitude
      The ecliptic longitude, in radians.
    • Constructor Summary

      Constructors 
      Constructor Description
      Ecliptic​(double lat, double lon)
      Constructs an Ecliptic coordinate object.
    • Method Summary

      All Methods Instance Methods Concrete Methods 
      Modifier and Type Method Description
      java.lang.String toString()
      Return a string representation of this object
      • Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

        clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait
    • Field Detail

      • latitude

        public final double latitude
        The ecliptic latitude, in radians. This specifies an object's position north or south of the plane of the ecliptic, with positive angles representing north.
      • longitude

        public final double longitude
        The ecliptic longitude, in radians. This specifies an object's position along the ecliptic plane relative to the "First Point of Aries", which is the Sun's position in the sky at the Vernal Equinox, with positive angles representing east.

        A bit of trivia: the first point of Aries is currently in the constellation Pisces, due to the precession of the earth's axis.

    • Constructor Detail

      • Ecliptic

        public Ecliptic​(double lat,
                        double lon)
        Constructs an Ecliptic coordinate object.

        Parameters:
        lat - The ecliptic latitude, measured in radians.
        lon - The ecliptic longitude, measured in radians.
    • Method Detail

      • toString

        public java.lang.String toString()
        Return a string representation of this object
        Overrides:
        toString in class java.lang.Object