Astronomy & Astrology - Celestial Sphere

Celestial Sphere

Celestial Sphere, the heavens: the imaginary sphere around the Earth on which the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets appear to be placed.

The celestial sphere is an imaginary globe surrounding Earth. Astronomers give stars coordinates from the globe to locate them just as geographers give latitude and longitude coordinates to places on Earth. Right ascension is the celestial equivalent of longitude, and declination is celestial equivalent of latitude.