Hover or tap underlined Spanish terms to see their translation and exam tip.
La medición de la altura de un astro en el momento de su paso por el meridiano superior del lugar, se utiliza para la obtención de:Measuring the altitude of a celestial body at the instant of its upper meridian transit is used to obtain:
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Correct answer: c) The observer’s latitude.
Why it is correct
At upper meridian transit the body bears due North or due South (Z = 000° or 180°), collapsing the navigational triangle onto the observer’s meridian so that latitude is found directly from the meridian zenith distance (zm = 90° − Ho) and declination (φ = zm ± δ).
Why the others are not
- a) A meridian altitude yields an East–West line of position (a parallel of latitude), not longitude.
- b) Declination is a coordinate of the celestial body (from the Almanac), not of the observer.
- d) Observer’s height of eye is an input used to correct for dip of the horizon.
How to work it out in the exam
- Meridian altitude (upper transit): directly yields the observer’s latitude (φ = zm ± δ).
Where this question comes from
- Región de Murcia · 2026 · 1ª convocatoria · CY Tipo 1 · question 8 Official paper · Official answer key
Pending instructor review. Machine translation, not reviewed.