Class CalendarAstronomer.Ecliptic

java.lang.Object
com.ibm.icu.impl.CalendarAstronomer.Ecliptic
Enclosing class:
CalendarAstronomer

public static final class CalendarAstronomer.Ecliptic extends 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:
  • Field Summary

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

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

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    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 Details

    • 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 Details

    • 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 Details

    • toString

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