Dave said "What's going on" Dave, Latitude is basically a measurement of degrees of arc. That is, degrees of arc from the center of the earth. Linear measurement upon the surface of the earth is a secondary result of latitude. One thing that may be confusing you is that one minute of arc equals one nautical mile. (There are 60 minutes in a degree) This is not coincidental. That is how a nautical mile was established. Basically, don't think of latitude as mileage upon the earth, rather think of the sweep of degrees of arc. Example, if you move one degree of latitude, the stars shift one degree in the sky. Dave, Think about this. The distance in degrees from the north star to the horizon, equals your latitude. (close enough) PS I've already had my nightly toddy, so I hope I make sense! Ken Mannshardt San Francisco Bay Area *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Sep 07 1998 - 23:11:47 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:29:59 PDT