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Personal website of Courtney Seligman, Professor of Astronomy / Author
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Online Astronomy eText: The Sky
Stars Setting at the Equator
(also see The Motion of the Sky, and The Motion of the Sky at Different Latitudes)

     A panoramic view of stars setting on the western horizon, as seen at the Equator, in Kenya. On the left, stars circle clockwise around the South Celestial Pole, rising on the left (which is east, when facing south) and setting on the right (which is west, when facing south). On the right, stars circle counterclockwise around the North Celestial Pole, rising on the right (which is east, when facing north) and setting on the left (which is west, when facing north). Everywhere, the stars set at right angles to the horizon (the horizontal white line), as they all move parallel to the Celestial Equator, which crosses the Horizon at right angles at the Equator. (LeRoy Zimmerman, apod021115)