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almucantar

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al⋅mu⋅can⋅tar

  [al-myoo-kan-ter]
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–noun Astronomy.
a circle on the celestial sphere parallel to the horizon; the locus of all points of a given altitude.
Also called parallel of altitude.

Origin:
1350–1400; prob. < ML almucantarath < Ar al-muqanṭarāt the almucantars, equiv. to al the + muquanṭarāt sundial, deriv. of qanṭarah arch; r. almicanter, ME almicanteras (pl.) < MF almicantarath < ML
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Encyclopedia

almucantar

in astronomy, any circle of the celestial sphere parallel to the horizon; when two objects are on the same almucantar, they have the same altitude. The term also refers to instruments of a pattern invented by the U.S. astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler for determining latitude or time by observing the times of transit of stars across a fixed almucantar.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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