Octant of a sphere
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In geometry, an octant of a sphere is a spherical triangle with three right angles and three right sides. It is sometimes called a trirectangular (spherical) triangle.cite-ref-1[1] It is one face of a spherical octahedron.cite-ref-2[2]
For a sphere embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space, the vectors from the sphere's center to each vertex of an octant are the basis vectors of a Cartesian coordinate system relative to which the sphere is a unit sphere. The spherical octant itself is the intersection of the sphere with one octant of space.
Uniquely among spherical triangles, the octant is its own polar triangle.cite-ref-3[3]
The octant can be parametrized using a rational quartic Bézier triangle.cite-ref-4[4]
The solid angle subtended by a spherical octant is π/2 steradian or one-eight of a spat, the solid angle of a full sphere.cite-ref-u421-5-0[5]
Contents
• See also
• Notes
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See also
Notes
cite-note-11. ↑ citereflegendre1858Legendre, Adrien-Marie (1858). Davies, Charles (ed.). Elements of Geometry and Trigonometry. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. p. 197.
cite-note-u421-55. ↑ "octant". PlanetMath.org. 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2024-10-21.