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First attested in 1932; Latin: sphaera (“sphere”, “globe of the heavens”) + rēcta (feminine nominative singular of rēctus, “right”, “upright”) = “upright sphere”.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
sphaera recta
Today it means: An idealised conception of the celestial sphere in which the celestial equator is perpendicular to the local horizon and the Sun reaches the zenith at its highest point. Full definition →