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EntityQ2703· pop 56· linked from 15,686 articles

moment in time used as a reference point for some time-varying astronomical quantity

AI overview

An epoch is a specific moment in time that astronomers use as a reference point to measure how celestial objects move and change over time. It matters because the positions and motions of stars and planets shift slightly, so scientists need a fixed starting date to accurately track and predict where these objects will be in the sky.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.