Ecliptic Coordinate System - Primary Direction

Primary Direction

The celestial equator and the ecliptic are slowly moving due to perturbing forces on the Earth, therefore the orientation of the primary direction, their intersection at the Northern Hemisphere vernal equinox, is not quite fixed. A slow motion of Earth's axis, precession, causes a slow, continuous turning of the coordinate system westward about the poles of the ecliptic, completing one circuit in about 26,000 years. Superimposed on this is a smaller motion of the ecliptic, and a small oscillation of the Earth's axis, nutation.

In order to reference a coordinate system which can be considered as fixed in space, these motions require specification of the equinox of a particular date, known as an epoch, when giving a position in ecliptic coordinates. The three most commonly used are:

• Mean equinox of a standard epoch (usually J2000.0, but may include B1950.0, B1900.0, etc.)

is a fixed standard direction, allowing positions established at various dates to be compared directly.

• Mean equinox of date

is the intersection of the ecliptic of "date" (that is, the ecliptic in its position at "date") with the mean equator (that is, the equator rotated by precession to its position at "date", but free from the small periodic oscillations of nutation). Commonly used in planetary orbit calculation.

• True equinox of date

is the intersection of the ecliptic of "date" with the true equator (that is, the mean equator plus nutation). This is the actual intersection of the two planes at any particular moment, with all motions accounted for.

A position in the ecliptic coordinate system is thus typically specified true equinox and ecliptic of date, mean equinox and ecliptic of J2000.0, or similar. Note that that there is no "mean ecliptic", as the ecliptic is not subject to small periodic oscillations.