korkeusastetta

Korkeusaste on angular measurement that expresses the elevation of a point in the sky above the observer’s horizon, expressed in degrees. The term is used in astronomy, navigation, and surveying to indicate where in the sky an object is located. The value ranges from 0° at the horizon to +90° at the zenith directly above the observer; negative values would indicate positions below the horizon.

Korkeusaste is measured with instruments such as sextants, theodolites, astrolabes, or modern digital sensors. In practice, the altitude is given in degrees and often in minutes and seconds. The Sun’s korkeusaste determines daylight intensity and shadow length; for stars and planets, the altitude changes with time and the observer’s latitude.

In celestial coordinate calculations, altitude is related to the observer’s position and the object’s celestial coordinates. A common relation is sin(alt) = sin(φ) sin(δ) + cos(φ) cos(δ) cos(H), where φ is latitude, δ is declination, and H is the hour angle. This reflects how korkeusaste depends on time, location, and the object’s position on the celestial sphere.

Etymology and usage: the word combines korkeus (height) and aste (degree). In Finnish, forms such as korkeusasteen or korkeusastetta are used depending on grammatical case. The concept is essentially the elevation angle used across sciences and practical observations to describe how high an object appears in the sky.

See also: altitude, zenith, azimuth.