Dictionary
tangen'tial mo'tion
Astron.
the component of the linear motion of a star with respect to the sun, measured along a line perpendicular to its line of sight and expressed in miles or kilometers per second. Also called
tangen'tial veloc'ity. Cf.
proper motion, radial motion. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.