Acronical Risings and Settings

Details Acronical Risings and Settings Acronical Risings and Settings

Jan 2012

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012aas...21915001h&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #219, #150.01

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

A concept found in historical primary sources, and useful in contemporary historiography, is the acronical rising and setting of stars (or planets). Topocentric terms, they provide information about a star's relationship to the Sun and thus its visibility in the sky. Yet there remains ambiguity as to what these two phrases actually mean.
"Acronical” is said to have come from the Greek akros ("point,” "summit,” or "extremity") and nux ("night"). While all sources agree that the word is originally Greek, there are alternate etymologies for it.
A more serious difficulty with acronical rising and setting is that there are two competing definitions. One I call the Poetical Definition. Acronical rising (or setting) is one of the three Poetical Risings (or Settings) known to classicists. (The other two are cosmical rising/setting, discussed below, and the more familiar helical rising/setting.) The term "poetical" refers to these words use in classical poetry, e. g., that of Columella, Hesiod, Ovid, Pliny the Younger, and Virgil. The Poetical Definition of "acronical” usually is meant in this context.
The Poetical Definition of "acronical” is as follows: When a star rises as the Sun sets, it rises acronically. When a star sets as the Sun sets, it sets acronically.
In contrast with the Poetical Definition, there also is what I call the Astronomical Definition. The Astronomical Definition is somewhat more likely to appear in astronomical, mathematical, or navigational works. When the Astronomical Definition is recorded in dictionaries, it is often with the protasis "In astronomy, . . . ."
The Astronomical Definition of "acronical” is as follows: When a star rises as the Sun sets, it rises acronically. When a star sets as the Sun rises, it sets acronically.
I will attempt to sort this all out in my talk.

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