True north

English translation: expl.

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	True north
Selected answer:	expl.
Entered by:	humbird

18:24 May 4, 2005

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Science - Astronomy & Space

English term or phrase: True north

I am talking about one of the cardinal directions, the four directions.
Now that our Planet tilts about 23 degree or so, the Polaris (the Polar Star) is situating at the North, but in larger picture (let say, put your eyes outside of this Planet) it is not the real north (23 degree or so off).
My question is when we say "true north", is that the direction where the Polar Star is?
This is easier to see for our eyes than less dicernible "cosmic" north. So which is "true north"?

TIA.

humbird

expl.

Explanation:
True North:

True North is an imaginary straight line between you and the geographic North Pole (that theoretical dot at the top of the globe). This straight line is a great circle that passes through you and both the North and South Poles. It is called a Meridian of Longitude. Simple enough.

Magnetic North:

Here's where it gets a little tricky.

The Magnetic North Pole, that spot the needle or card on your compass points towards, is not located at the geographic North Pole. If you live in the Western Hemisphere, Magnetic North is actually located south of the geographic North Pole. As a result, and depending on where you are, there is almost always an angular difference between True North and the direction your compass is pointing.

This angular difference is called variation. To find out how much variation there is in your area, look at a local marine chart. There will be two (2) red circles on the chart, one inside the other. Each circle is marked in one degree increments from 000o to 359o. The 000o on the outer circle is pointing towards True North. The 000o on the inner circle is pointing toward Magnetic North.

The angular difference (variation) between these two directions, for that area, is printed in degrees and minutes, either East or West, in the middle of the two circles. (By the way, this handy dandy device is called a Compass Rose.) For example, if you are boating on Long Island sound, the variation is approximately 14o W(est). Therefore, if you want to proceed on a course of 090o True, you must add the 14o W variation to the 090o True. Your resultant Magnetic Course would be 104o.

Now, if you do your boating around Chicago, Illinois, the variation there is near 0o. However, if you are out west, the variation becomes easterly - and the angular difference increases as you go further west and north. Thus, if your variation is 14o E on a course of 090o True, you would subtract 14o from 090o, giving you a Magnetic Course of 076o.

The variation between True and Magnetic direction is always the same for all boats operating in a given area.

For those of you who are still with me, and because this isn't quite complicated enough, there is yet another factor to consider with a magnetic or fluxgate compass. Each compass may, or may not, be influenced by electrical currents or fields on your boat. This influence can cause additional compass error called deviation. Most deviation can be eliminated by adjusting the compensating magnets in your compass, in a process called "Swinging the Compass". (In the interest of not totally befuddling everyone, I will not cover that process at this time.)

http://powerboat.about.com/od/navigation/a/truenorth_wayup.h...

Selected response from:

Kirill Semenov
Ukraine
Local time: 18:38

Grading comment

I was very tempted to select Oso, but this answer contains what I am looking. Thank you all!!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

3 +10

This might help

Oso (X)

3 +4

expl.

Kirill Semenov

The Geographic North Pole >>>

Maria Chmelarova

True North

Jarema

the direction along the earth's surface toward one pole of the earth's rotation, namely the pole tha

Michael Powers (PhD)

Answers

3 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +10

This might help

Explanation:
"What's the difference between true north and magnetic north?
Steve
Dunkirk, New York

Dear Steve:
True north is a constant and refers to the geographic North Pole. Magnetic north tends to shift and refers to the pole of the Earth's magnetic field. In mid 2002, true north and magnetic north were approximately 590 miles apart.

This handy article from hiking expert Doug Latimer explains the poles of the Earth's magnetic field are different from its geographic poles. Maps are aligned along true north, so hikers have to make adjustments when navigating by compass.

In navigation, the difference between true north and magnetic north is known as declination. All U.S. Geological Survey maps print relevant declination information, and the maps are updated every five years to account for shift. Hikers traveling in Northern California, for instance, have to make declination adjustments of roughly 18 degrees.

The Earth's magnetic field stems from its molten metallic core, much of which is iron. Iron is a fairly common element, since it can't be burned off during the fiery formation of stars. Iron is magnetic because its inner electron shells are slightly unstable. For much more information on this topic, Chris Goulet hosts a detailed Magnetic Declination FAQ. "

Good luck from Oso ¶:^)

Reference: http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20030826.html

Oso (X)
Native speaker of:

Spanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Kirill Semenov

0 min

-> Thank you, Kirill ¶:^)

agree

Ernesto de Lara: Buen royal

16 mins

-> Gracias, Ernesto ¶:^)

agree

Robert Donahue (X)

22 mins

-> Thank you, Robert ¶:^)

agree

jennifer newsome (X)

32 mins

-> Thank you, trickilyclever ¶:^)

agree

Refugio

35 mins

-> Muchas gracias, Ruth ¡Saludos! ¶:^)

agree

RebeW

58 mins

-> Gracias, Rebe ¶:^)

agree

Rafal Korycinski

3 hrs

-> Thank you, Rafal ¶:^)

agree

Tsu Dho Nimh: True north = North Pole. "Magnetic North" = where compass points.

3 hrs

-> Thank you, Tsu ¶:^)

agree

Alfa Trans (X)

11 hrs

-> Thank you, Marju ¶:^)

agree

jclopezpozas: Very good. And there is a third nort: Grid north: The northerly or zero direction indicated by the grid datum of directional reference.

17 hrs

-> Gracias, jclopezpozas ¶:^)

3 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

true north

expl.

Kirill Semenov
Ukraine
Local time: 18:38
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Russian
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

I was very tempted to select Oso, but this answer contains what I am looking. Thank you all!!

4 mins confidence:

true north True North

Explanation:
True North

True North: the direction of a meridian of longitude which converges on the North Pole.

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/aboutus/reports/mi...

Jarema
Ukraine
Local time: 18:38
Native speaker of:

Russian,

Ukrainian

5 mins confidence:

true north the direction along the earth's surface toward one pole of the earth's rotation, namely the pole tha

Explanation:
Definition on the Web

Web definitions for True North
the direction from any point on the earth's surface toward the geographic North Pole
k12.ocs.ou.edu/teachers/glossary/t.html - Definition in context

north: Definition and Much More From Answers.com
... usually within half a right angle of true north, especially when stating travel
... The difference between it and true north is called the magnetic ...
www.answers.com/topic/north - 30k - Cached - Similar pages

magnetic declination: Definition and Much More From Answers.com
magnetic declination n. The angle between magnetic north and true north at a
particular location. Also called magnetic variation.
www.answers.com/topic/magnetic-declination - 28k - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from www.answers.com ]

magnetic declination - definition of magnetic declination in ...
... As the numeric size of the angle between magnetic and true north, and the
direction from true north to magnetic north. ...
encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/magnetic_declination - 25k - Cached - Similar pages

MapWorld
... What is the New Zealand Map Grid? What does scale on a map refer to? What is
meant by True North? What is meant by WGS84? ...
www.mapworld.co.nz/compassfaq.html - 12k - Cached - Similar pages

true north, the direction along the earth's surface toward one pole of the earth's rotation, namely the pole that is clearly on one's left when standing at the Equator while facing the rising sun.

Mike :)

Michael Powers (PhD)
United States
Local time: 11:38
Native speaker of: English

9 hrs confidence:

true north The Geographic North Pole >>>

Explanation:
>>> also known as True North, is the northernmost point on the Earth as determined by the planet's rotation. It has a known fixed position, at latitude 90 North. (simple def., don't need more)

>>>read more about The Magnetic N.P., The Geomagnetic N.P. at >>>

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Note added at 9 hrs 32 mins (2005-05-05 03:57:13 GMT)
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90 degree Nort

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Note added at 9 hrs 32 mins (2005-05-05 03:57:46 GMT)
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North (typo)

Reference: http://www.worldwidelearn.com/northpole/thepole/index

Maria Chmelarova
Local time: 11:38
Native speaker of: Slovak

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