High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In spherical coordinates, colatitude is the complementary angle of the latitude, i.e. the difference between 90° and the latitude. The colatitude is useful in astronomy because it refers to the zenith distance of the celestial poles. For example, at latitude 42°N, Polaris (approximately on the North celestial pole) has a latitude of 42°, so the distance from the zenith (overhead point) to Polaris is 90 - 42 = 48°. Adding the declination of a star to the observer's colatitude gives the maximum latitude of that star (its angle from the horizon at culmination or upper transit). For example, if Alpha Centauri is seen with a latitude of 72° north (108° south) and its declination is known (60°S), then it can be determined that the observer's colatitude is 108 - 60 = 48 (i.e. their latitude is 90 - 48 = 42°S).

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