com.ibm.util
Class CalendarAstronomer.Ecliptic

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--com.ibm.util.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, CalendarAstronomer.Horizon

Field Summary
 double latitude
          The ecliptic latitude, in radians.
 double longitude
          The ecliptic longitude, in radians.
 
Constructor Summary
CalendarAstronomer.Ecliptic(double lat, double lon)
          Constructs an Ecliptic coordinate object.
 
Method Summary
 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

CalendarAstronomer.Ecliptic

public CalendarAstronomer.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


Copyright (c) 2001 IBM Corporation and others.