Besselian elements
E579587
Besselian elements are mathematical parameters introduced by Friedrich Bessel that precisely describe the geometry and timing of a solar eclipse as seen from Earth.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Besselian elements canonical | 2 |
| Bessel’s method for eclipses | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T6250941 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Besselian elements Context triple: [Friedrich Bessel, notableFor, Besselian elements]
-
A.
Saros cycle
The Saros cycle is an approximately 18-year period after which nearly identical solar and lunar eclipses repeat, due to the alignment of the Earth, Moon, and Sun.
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B.
Newcomb tables of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars
The Newcomb tables of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars are a set of highly accurate 19th-century astronomical tables computed by Simon Newcomb that were long used to predict the positions and motions of these celestial bodies.
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C.
Keplerian orbital elements
Keplerian orbital elements are a set of parameters that uniquely describe the size, shape, and orientation of an orbit and the position of an orbiting body along that path.
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D.
Ephemerides
Ephemerides is a 15th-century astronomical table compiled by Regiomontanus that provided highly accurate planetary positions and became a foundational tool for navigation and astronomy in early modern Europe.
-
E.
Occultation
Occultation is a central Twelver Shia belief that the twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, is alive but hidden from public view and will reappear at the end of times to establish justice.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Besselian elements Target entity description: Besselian elements are mathematical parameters introduced by Friedrich Bessel that precisely describe the geometry and timing of a solar eclipse as seen from Earth.
-
A.
Saros cycle
The Saros cycle is an approximately 18-year period after which nearly identical solar and lunar eclipses repeat, due to the alignment of the Earth, Moon, and Sun.
-
B.
Newcomb tables of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars
The Newcomb tables of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars are a set of highly accurate 19th-century astronomical tables computed by Simon Newcomb that were long used to predict the positions and motions of these celestial bodies.
-
C.
Keplerian orbital elements
Keplerian orbital elements are a set of parameters that uniquely describe the size, shape, and orientation of an orbit and the position of an orbiting body along that path.
-
D.
Ephemerides
Ephemerides is a 15th-century astronomical table compiled by Regiomontanus that provided highly accurate planetary positions and became a foundational tool for navigation and astronomy in early modern Europe.
-
E.
Occultation
Occultation is a central Twelver Shia belief that the twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, is alive but hidden from public view and will reappear at the end of times to establish justice.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
astronomical calculation method
ⓘ
set of mathematical parameters ⓘ solar eclipse prediction tool ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
Earth-based observations of solar eclipses
ⓘ
solar eclipses ⓘ |
| basedOn |
celestial mechanics
ⓘ
spherical astronomy ⓘ |
| calculatedIn | fundamental plane of the eclipse ⓘ |
| coordinateSystem |
Earth-fixed geographic coordinates
ⓘ
fundamental plane coordinates ⓘ |
| describes |
motion of the Moon’s shadow across Earth
ⓘ
path of annularity of a solar eclipse ⓘ path of totality of a solar eclipse ⓘ |
| enables |
calculation of contact times for a solar eclipse
ⓘ
calculation of eclipse duration at a given location ⓘ calculation of local eclipse magnitude ⓘ |
| field |
astrometry
ⓘ
astronomy ⓘ celestial mechanics ⓘ |
| hasComponent |
Greenwich hour angle of the Sun
ⓘ
coordinates of the shadow axis in the fundamental plane ⓘ declination of the Sun ⓘ lunar ephemeris parameters ⓘ radius of the penumbral cone ⓘ radius of the umbral cone ⓘ rate of change of the shadow axis coordinates ⓘ right ascension of the Sun ⓘ solar ephemeris parameters ⓘ time of greatest eclipse ⓘ |
| historicallyIntroducedBy | Friedrich Bessel ⓘ |
| namedAfter | Friedrich Bessel ⓘ |
| output |
geocentric eclipse circumstances
ⓘ
topocentric eclipse circumstances ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Bessel’s method for eclipses
ⓘ
linked to:
Besselian elements
eclipse maps ⓘ |
| requires |
precise ephemerides of the Moon
ⓘ
precise ephemerides of the Sun ⓘ |
| timeDependent | true ⓘ |
| usedBy |
astronomers
ⓘ
eclipse calculators ⓘ organizations publishing eclipse predictions ⓘ |
| usedFor |
computing local eclipse circumstances on Earth
ⓘ
describing the geometry of a solar eclipse ⓘ describing the timing of a solar eclipse ⓘ predicting solar eclipses ⓘ |
| usedIn |
astronomical almanacs
ⓘ
eclipse bulletins ⓘ nautical almanacs ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Besselian elements Description of subject: Besselian elements are mathematical parameters introduced by Friedrich Bessel that precisely describe the geometry and timing of a solar eclipse as seen from Earth.
Referenced by (3)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Besselian elements