Today is the last day of the A to Z April Challenge. Hurrah! I've had a lot of fun learning about new things and I hope you did too. I have to commend Susan Gourley/Kelley for visiting me almost every day since the beginning (maybe it was every day) and thanks to the rest of you for your support. If you want to go to the main web page to visit other participants, click HERE.
I chose Fantasy as my theme, but I couldn't find what I wanted, so I'll talk about Zenith, because it might be incorporated in a fantasy story.
The zenith is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the imaginary celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction opposite to the apparent gravitational force at that location. The opposite direction, ie, the direction in which gravity pulls, is toward the nadir.
Zenith may be used as a name which means success and power.
The term zenith is sometimes used to refer to the highest point reached by a celestial body during its apparent orbit around a given point of observation. This sense of the word is often used to describe the location of the Sun (The sun reached its zenith...), but to an astronomer the sun does not have its own zenith, and is at the zenith only if it is directly overhead.
In a scientific context, the zenith is the direction of reference for measuring the zenith angle between a direction of interest (e.g., a star) and the local zenith.
In astronomy, the attitude in the horizontal coordinate system and the zenith angle are complementary angles, with the horizon perpendicular to the zenith. The astronomical meridian is also determined by the zenith, and is defined as a circle on the celestial sphere that passes through the zenith, nadir, and the celestial poles.
Now that you have all that scientific jargon in your head, jot down the beginning of a story. I decided on one about a girl who loves space travel and can travel long distances by jumping when the sun is on its zenith with her point. Have I got it? In fantasy you can bend the rules, but it helps to have the facts so your readers stay grounded. How about you?
Facts do help even if I understand them wrong from time to time. :) Congrats on getting to Z. I love your covers in the sidebar. They're so delightful.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I had a lot of fun but I'm glad it's over. I'm not used to posting every day. I think I'll go back to posting every other day or so.
DeleteHi Karen - thank you all the information about the word 'zenith'. It has been good to learn a lot of new facts during the A-Z.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on having survived.
Yep, I'm now at the end. It's been fun. I'm waiting for next year already, but am glad for an entire year break. LOL!
DeleteI post every day but Sunday anyway, so things don't change. Have finished the Puzzle Box, now where's the rest and don't say you were busy with the A to Z, it won't do. No excuses, I want the next book LOL. How do you pronounce Kai, Ky or Kay?
ReplyDeleteLove the jargon, and sounds like a great start to a story :)
ReplyDeletewow, great words that could be incorporated into a title...in fantasy I would imagine two books, one that has the character going to the Nadir (demons etc.,), and the other reaching the zenith, escaping and becoming something more than they thought they were...well done for reaching the end of the challenge.
ReplyDelete