L – Location on Earth
A – Ascendant for that Location
N, S – North & South Celestial Poles
– Detailed explanation
Interactive Controls
<Space> – Pause
r – Reset
Latitude: --°
Sidereal time: --°
Ascendant: --°
Obliquity: --°
⏸ Paused
–90°+90°
SlowFast
0°+180°
360°
1xR10xR
Explanation of the Model
This interactive graphic model shows a location, L, on the Earth undergoing its daily rotation.
The globe of the Earth is not visible. Instead we see is its axis of rotation, Earth Axis running between the North to South Celestial Poles,
N and S, and passing through the centre of the Earth, Earth Centre, (where all axial lines intersect).
Earth Axis is at the centre of the disk of the Zodiac. It is fixed relative to Zodiac, inclined towards 0° Cancer, ♋ (= 90° in the model) to the north
and 0° Capricorn, ♑ (= 270° in the model) to the south.
The Zodiac is the plane of the Ecliptic, the plane in which the Earth orbits the Sun. The tilt of the Earh's axis is known as the obliquity.
The location, L, is shown at the end of an axis which also passes through Earth Centre.
This axis traces out a cone in its daily rotation around the Earth's axis.
The two rotating circles, coloured cyan and orange:
The cyan circle is the Location's local horizon. The local horizon is a plane through Earth Centre an right angles to the axis line of the Location.
The yellow axis line is where the local horizon intersects the Ecliptic. The eastern end of this axis line is the
Ascendant, (A), or rising sign, the western end is known as the Descendant. These are the points roughly where Sun, Moon and planets rise and set over the day. (Roughly, because
(Roughly, because these bodies are not always exactly on the Ecliptic plane.)
In the Platypus system the Ascendant is exactly the same as most other systems, except in the polar regions, (beyond about 66.5°N or S).
The orange circle is the Location's meridian. It passes through the Location and the Earth's north and south poles.
The meridian always rotates 360° around the Earth's axis. In many house systems the meridan is also the cusp of the 10th house.
Not, however, in Platypus. The Platypus solution to the 10th house will be explained in the next model.