nodicaladj.
/ˈnəʊdᵻkl/, U.S. /ˈnɑdək(ə)l/, /ˈnoʊdək(ə)l/ Astronomy.
Designating the period between successive passages of the moon across a node in its orbit. Esp. in nodical month.The nodical month is 27.21222 days, i.e. 27 days 5 hours 5 minutes 36 seconds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > planet > planetary movement > [adjective] > node
nodical1839
nodal1868
1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 373/2 The average nodical month, or from a node to a node of the same kind.
1877 Philos. Trans. 1876 (Royal Soc.) 166 402 This apparent action of the moon is due to her position relatively to the equator; but as the nodical period differs only 0.11 day from the tropical, it is possible that it is her position relatively to the ecliptic which is in question.
1899 C. A. Young Text-bk. Gen. Astron. (ed. 2) vii. 16 The so-called anomalistic revolution..is..8 hours 14 minutes longer than the moon's nodical revolution.
1958 Astron. Jrnl. 63 28/2 The resulting unperturbed orbit..is skew and non-periodic, with different and nearly correct sidereal, nodical, and anomalistic periods.
1994 H. Karttunen et al. Fund. Astron. (ed. 2) viii. 162 Because the line of nodes is rotating, the nodical month is 3 hours shorter than the sidereal month, i.e. 27.212 days.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1839