descending node

• En astronomie et en mécanique céleste, point de l'orbite d'un corps céleste où celui-ci traverse un plan de référence (comme l'écliptique) en allant du nord vers le sud, c'est-à-dire en descendant par rapport à ce plan.

In astronomy and orbital mechanics, the point in an orbit where a celestial body crosses a reference plane (such as the ecliptic) from north to south, moving downward relative to that plane.

1. Astronomical termC2formal

   The point in an orbit where a celestial body crosses from the northern to the southern side of a reference plane, such as the ecliptic.

   nœud descendant

   • The Moon's descending node occurs when it crosses the ecliptic moving southward.
   • Astronomers calculated the exact time of the descending node for the comet.
   • Eclipses can occur when the Sun is near the ascending or descending node of the Moon's orbit.