Colure

Short description: Principal meridians of the celestial sphere

Orange = equinoctial colure
Blue = solstitial colure G = equinoctial colure
H = solstitial colure

Colure, in astronomy, is either of the two principal meridians of the celestial sphere.

## Contents

* 1 Equinoctial colure
* 2 Solstitial colure
* 3 See also
* 4 References

## Equinoctial colure

The equinoctial colure is the meridian or great circle of the celestial sphere which passes through the celestial poles and the two equinoxes: the first point of Aries and the first point of Libra.

## Solstitial colure

The solstitial colure is the meridian or great circle of the celestial sphere which passes through the poles and the two solstices: the first point of Cancer and the first point of Capricorn. There are several stars closely aligned with the solstitial colure: Pi Herculis, Delta Aurigae, and Theta Scorpii. This makes the solstitial colure point towards the North Celestial Pole and Polaris.

## See also

* Celestial coordinate system
* Ecliptic
* Celestial sphere
* Right ascension
* Equinox
* Solstice

## References

* Harley, John Brian; Woodward, David (1987). Cartography in the Traditional Islamic and South Asian Societies. The History of cartography. 2:1. University of Chicago Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-226-31635-2. OCLC 13456456.
* Geminus; Evans, James; Berggren, J. L. (2006). Geminos's Introduction to the phenomena: a translation and study of a Hellenistic survey of astronomy. Princeton University Press. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-691-12339-4. OCLC 70232402.
* Ovason, David (1999). The Secret Architecture of our Nation's Capital. Harper Collins. p. 98. ISBN 978-006095368-3. OCLC 50409366. https://archive.org/details/secretarchitectu00ovas/page/98.
* Kaler, Jim. "Pi Aurigae." Pi Aurigae. N.p. 22 Feb. 2008. Web.

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