analemma etymology

Etymology:

• Analemma derives from the Ancient Greek words:
  • ἀνά (aná) - "up", "again"
  • λῆμμα (lēmma) - "something taken" (from λαμβάνω, lambánō, "to take, seize")

Meaning:

An analemma is:

• A curve traced by the position of the sun in the sky as observed from a fixed location on Earth over the course of a year.
• A graphical representation that shows how the sun's altitude and azimuth vary throughout the year.

Origin:

The term "analemma" was first used by the ancient Greek astronomer Apollonius of Perga in his treatise on conic sections in the 2nd or 3rd century BCE. Apollonius used the term to describe a curve that was symmetrical about the origin and that was generated by a point moving on a circle that was rolling along a straight line.

The modern concept of an analemma as a curve traced by the sun's position in the sky was developed in the 1600s by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini. Cassini used the term to describe the curve that was formed by the path of the sun's image on the pinhole camera of his observatory in Bologna, Italy.

Analemmas are now commonly used in astronomy, meteorology, and navigation to visualize the seasonal changes in the sun's position.

analemma relate terms

• lemma

  Etymology The word lemma has its origins in ancient Greek Lemma λήμμα thing