DECLINATION

in astronomy, the angular distance of a body north or south of the celestial equator. Declination and right ascension, an east-west coordinate, together define the position of an object in the sky. North declination is considered positive and south, negative. Thus, +90 declination marks the north celestial pole, 0 the celestial equator, and -90 the south celestial pole. The usual symbol for declination is the lowercase Greek letter d (delta).