heliocentric

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   treating the sun as the center, especially in an astronomical model of the solar system

   The heliocentric model explains the planets as orbiting the sun.

2. 2
   adj

   measured or described relative to the center of the sun

   The researchers plotted the comet's path in heliocentric coordinates.

Formed from helio- ("sun"), from Greek helios, + -centric, from Greek kentron ("center, sharp point"). The word is associated with Copernican astronomy but also has a precise modern use for sun-centered measurements and orbits.

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