Declination (dec) on the celestial globe is like latitude on the terrestrial globe.
The celestial equator mirrors Earth’s equator, halving the sphere into northern and southern hemispheres at 0°.
The degrees of lines of declination increase north and south to 180° at each celestial pole, just like latitudes increase to 180° at the terrestrial North and South Poles.
Fractions of declination degrees are called minutes, and are notated with a symbol called prime (‘).
Instead of saying north or south declination, a plus sign (+) can be used for, north and a minus sign (–) for south.
The star Betelgeuse can be located along the line of declination 7 degrees and 24 minutes north of the celestial equator: 7°24′ north dec, or, +7°24’ dec.
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