this directional position, reduced to years at the rate of one day for a year or 2 hrs. for a month.
Others divide the Arc of Direction by the Sun's mean motion per year (59'8"), the result
converted into time at the rate of one degree for a year. (v. Directions.)
Equator. The circle that lies midway between the poles of the earth, dividing it into two
hemispheres - North and South. Also the projection of the Earth's equator upon the celestial
sphere - sometimes called the equinoctial circle.
The celestial equator has also been defined as "the continuation of the plane of the terrestrial
equator without limit into celestial spaces."
Equinox. A point in the Earth's annual orbit around the Sun, at which the polar inclination is at
right angles to a line drawn between the Earth and the Sun; in consequence of which the length
of the day and the night are equal all over the earth. This occurs at two points, called
respectively the Vernal Equinox, which the Earth passes on March 21 when it enters Aries, and
the Autumnal Equinox, on September 22nd when it enters Libra. Astronomers have not yet
charted the Sun's orbit or determined its plane, or the inclination of the orbit of the Earth to that
of the Sun, but it is possible that when these have been determined, it will be found that the
Equinoctial points are the Earth's Nodes, where the plane of the Earth's orbit intersects that of
the Sun. Thus the Zodiac, measured from the Spring Equinox, will be shown to represent a fixed
relationship of the Earth and Sun in an orbit around some remote galactic center. (v. Galaxy.)
This will make the Equinoctial points in reference to the Sun's orbit, analogous to the Moon's
Nodes in reference to the Earth's orbit.
The equinoxes are commonly defined as the moment wherein the Sun reaches the point at
which the plane of the ecliptic intersects the plane of the equator.Equinoctial Signs. Aries and Libra. v. SignsEra. Applied to numerous historical epochs, presumably starting on some specific date of
constant reference, among them the following:The Grecian Mundane Era............... Sept. 1, 5598 B.C.The Civil Era of Constantinople....... Sept. 1, 5508 B.C.The Alexandrian Era................... Aug. 29, 5502 B.C.Ecclesiastical Era of Antioch......... Sept. 1, 5492 B.C.The Julian Period..................... Jan. 1, 4713 B.C.