Zenith vs. Azimuth

(astronomy) The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir.

(astronomy) The highest point in the sky reached by a celestial body.

(by extension) Highest point or state; peak.

That point in the visible celestial hemisphere which is vertical to the spectator; the point of the heavens directly overhead; - opposed to nadir.

Example: ‘From mornTo noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,A summer's day; and with the setting sunDropped from the zenith, like a falling star.’;

hence, figuratively, the point of culmination; the greatest height; the height of success or prosperity.

Example: ‘I find my zenith doth depend uponA most auspicious star.’; ‘This dead of midnight is the noon of thought,And wisdom mounts her zenith with the stars.’; ‘It was during those civil troubles . . . this aspiring family reached the zenith.’;

the point above the observer that is directly opposite the nadir on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected

the time at which something is most powerful or successful

Example: ‘in 1977, punk was at its zenith’;

the point in the sky or celestial sphere directly above an observer.

the highest point reached by a given celestial object

Example: ‘the sun was well past the zenith’;

The zenith is an imaginary point directly a particular location, on the imaginary celestial sphere. means in the vertical direction (plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir).

Example: ‘above’; ‘Above’;

An arc of the horizon intercepted between the meridian of the place and a vertical circle passing through the center of any object.

Example: ‘the azimuth of a star’; ‘the azimuth or bearing of a line surveying’;

The quadrant of an azimuth circle.

The quadrant of an azimuth circle.

the azimuth of a celestial body is the angle between the vertical plane containing it and the plane of the meridian

An azimuth ( (listen); from Arabic اَلسُّمُوت as-sumūt, 'the directions', the plural form of the Arabic noun السَّمْت as-samt, meaning 'the direction') is an angular measurement in a spherical coordinate system. The vector from an observer (origin) to a point of interest is projected perpendicularly onto a reference plane; the angle between the projected vector and a reference vector on the reference plane is called the azimuth.