East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the 180th meridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, the term Western Hemisphere is often used as a metonym for the Americas or the "New World", even though geographically the hemisphere also includes parts of other continents.
View the full Wikipedia page for Western HemisphereThe four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main compass directions: north (N), east (E), south (S), and west (W). The corresponding azimuths (clockwise horizontal angle from north) are 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°.
The four ordinal directions or intercardinal directions are northeast (NE), southeast (SE), southwest (SW), and northwest (NW).The corresponding azimuths are 45°, 135°, 225°, and 315°.
View the full Wikipedia page for Cardinal directionLongitude (/ˈlɒndʒɪtjuːd/, AU and UK also /ˈlɒŋɡɪ-/) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter lambda (λ). Meridians are imaginary semicircular lines running from pole to pole that connect points with the same longitude. The prime meridian defines 0° longitude; by convention the International Reference Meridian for the Earth passes near the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, south-east London on the island of Great Britain. Positive longitudes are east of the prime meridian, and negative ones are west.
Because of the Earth's rotation, there is a close connection between longitude and time measurement. Scientifically precise local time varies with longitude: a difference of 15° longitude corresponds to a one-hour difference in local time, due to the differing position in relation to the Sun. Comparing local time to an absolute measure of time allows longitude to be determined. Depending on the era, the absolute time might be obtained from a celestial event visible from both locations, such as a lunar eclipse, or from a time signal transmitted by telegraph or radio. The principle is straightforward, but in practice finding a reliable method of determining longitude took centuries and required the effort of some of the greatest scientific minds.
View the full Wikipedia page for LongitudeA circle of latitude or line of latitude on Earth is an abstract east–west small circle connecting all locations around Earth (ignoring elevation) at a given latitude coordinate line.
Circles of latitude are often called parallels because they are parallel to each other; that is, planes that contain any of these circles never intersect each other. A location's position along a circle of latitude is given by its longitude. Circles of latitude are unlike circles of longitude, which are all great circles with the centre of Earth in the middle, as the circles of latitude get smaller as the distance from the Equator increases. Their length can be calculated by a common sine or cosine function. For example, the 60th parallel north or south is half as long as the Equator (disregarding Earth's minor flattening by 0.335%), stemming from . On the Mercator projection or on the Gall-Peters projection, a circle of latitude is perpendicular to all meridians. On the ellipsoid or on spherical projection, all circles of latitude are rhumb lines, except the Equator.
View the full Wikipedia page for Circle of latitudeNorth is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. North is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
View the full Wikipedia page for NorthThe 180th meridian or antimeridian is the meridian 180° both east and west of the prime meridian in a geographical coordinate system. The longitude at this line can be given as either east or west.On Earth, the prime and 180th meridians form a great ellipse that divides the planet into the Western and Eastern Hemispheres.
View the full Wikipedia page for 180th meridianIn Chinese philosophy, wood (Chinese: 木; pinyin: mù), sometimes more accurately translated as tree, is one of the five concepts that conform the wuxing. It is the growing of the matter, or the matter's growing expanding stage. Wood is the young yang symbol of the Yinyang philosophy, it can be seen as the fuelling Fire. It stands for the season of spring, the eastern direction, the planet Jupiter, the color green, windy weather, and the Azure Dragon (Qing Long) in Four Symbols. Blue and cyan-type colors also represent wood.
View the full Wikipedia page for Wood (wuxing)West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
View the full Wikipedia page for WestEarth's rotation or Earth's spin is the rotation of planet Earth around its own axis, as well as changes in the orientation of the rotation axis in space. Earth rotates eastward, in prograde motion. As viewed from the northern polar star Polaris, Earth turns counterclockwise.
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. This point is distinct from Earth's north magnetic pole. The South Pole is the other point where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface, in Antarctica.
View the full Wikipedia page for Earth's rotationA compass rose or compass star, sometimes called a wind rose or rose of the winds, is a polar diagram displaying the orientation of the cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west) and their intermediate points. It is used on compasses (including magnetic ones), maps (such as compass rose networks), or monuments. It is particularly common in navigation systems, including nautical charts, non-directional beacons (NDB), VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) systems, satellite navigation devices ("GPS").
View the full Wikipedia page for Compass roseSouth is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
View the full Wikipedia page for SouthThe Roaring Forties are strong westerly winds that occur in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40° and 50° south. The strong eastward air currents are caused by the combination of warm air being displaced upward from the Equator towards the South Pole, Earth's rotation, and the scarcity of landmasses to serve as windbreaks at those latitudes. On average, winds speeds in the region measure around 10 m/s (22 mph) with peak gusts of over 25 m/s (56 mph).
The Roaring Forties were a major aid to ships sailing the Brouwer Route from Europe to the East Indies or Australasia during the Age of Sail, and in modern times are favoured by yachtsmen on round-the-world voyages and competitions. The boundaries of the Roaring Forties are not consistent: the wind-stream shifts north or south depending on the season. The strong and continuous winds in the Roaring Forties make this zone advantageous for wind power in places such as New Zealand and Tasmania.
View the full Wikipedia page for Roaring FortiesThe horizontal coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system that uses the observer's local horizon as the fundamental plane to define two angles of a spherical coordinate system: altitude and azimuth.Therefore, the horizontal coordinate system is sometimes called the az/el system, the alt/az system, or the alt-azimuth system, among others. In an altazimuth mount of a telescope, the instrument's two axes follow altitude and azimuth.
View the full Wikipedia page for Horizontal coordinate systemIn navigation, bearing or azimuth is the horizontal angle between the direction of an object and north or another object. The angle value can be specified in various angular units, such as degrees, mils, or grad. More specifically:
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each separated by 90 degrees, and secondarily divided by four ordinal (intercardinal) directions—northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest—each located halfway between two cardinal directions. Some disciplines such as meteorology and navigation further divide the compass with additional azimuths. Within European tradition, a fully defined compass has 32 "points" (and any finer subdivisions are described in fractions of points).
Compass points or compass directions are valuable in that they allow a user to refer to a specific azimuth in a colloquial fashion, without having to compute or remember degrees.
View the full Wikipedia page for Points of the compass