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The 45th parallel north is often called the halfway point between the equator and the North Pole, but the true halfway point is 16.0 km (9.9 mi) north of it (approximately between 45°08'36" and 45°08'37") because Earth is an oblate spheroid; that is, it bulges at the equator and is flattened at the poles. [1]
Because the Earth is not a perfect sphere, the length of one minute of arc at the Equator differs from that measured at the geographic poles; thus the modern internationally agreed-upon standard defines the nautical mile as the average of these two extremes: 1,852 metres (6,076 feet; 1.151 miles). [1]
In normal aspect, these map the central meridian and parallels as straight lines. Other meridians are curves (or possibly straight from pole to equator), regularly spaced along parallels. Conic In normal aspect, conic (or conical) projections map meridians as straight lines, and parallels as arcs of circles. Pseudoconical
It is the line that marks the theoretical halfway point between the equator and the South Pole. The true halfway point is 16.2 km (10.1 mi) south of this parallel because Earth is not a perfect sphere, but bulges at the equator and is flattened at the poles. [1] Unlike its northern counterpart, almost all (97%) of it passes through open ocean.
The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, ...
An observer standing at sea level on either pole, therefore, is 21 km (13 mi) closer to Earth's center than if standing at sea level on the Equator. As a result, the highest point on Earth, measured from the center and outwards, is the peak of Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador rather than Mount Everest .
A position in the equatorial coordinate system is thus typically specified true equinox and equator of date, mean equinox and equator of J2000.0, or similar. Note that there is no "mean ecliptic", as the ecliptic is not subject to small periodic oscillations. [5]
The major axis of the prolate spheroid does not run through the satellite's poles in this case, but through the two points on its equator directly facing toward and away from the primary. This combines with the smaller oblate distortion from the synchronous rotation to cause the body to become triaxial.