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A geographical mile is defined to be the length of one minute of arc along the equator (one equatorial minute of longitude) therefore a degree of longitude along the equator is exactly 60 geographical miles or 111.3 kilometers, as there are 60 minutes in a degree. The length of 1 minute of longitude along the equator is 1 geographical mile or 1 ...
When each equatorial degree was divided into 18 leagues, the geographical mile was equal to 1 / 54 degree or about 2.06 kilometres (1.28 mi); when divided into 20 leagues, the geographical mile was equal to 1 / 60 degree, approximating the values provided above; and when divided into 25 leagues, the geographical mile was equal ...
The equator is divided into 360 degrees of longitude, so each degree at the equator represents 111,319.5 metres (365,221 ft). As one moves away from the equator towards a pole, however, one degree of longitude is multiplied by the cosine of the latitude, decreasing the distance, approaching zero at the pole.
As one degree is 1 / 360 of a circle, one minute of arc is 1 / 21600 of a circle – such that the polar circumference of the Earth would be exactly 21,600 miles. Gunter used Snellius's circumference to define a nautical mile as 6,080 feet, the length of one minute of arc at 48 degrees latitude. [24]
When this is not the case, as in astronomy or for geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude), degree measurements may be written using decimal degrees (DD notation); for example, 40.1875°. Alternatively, the traditional sexagesimal unit subdivisions can be used: one degree is divided into 60 minutes (of arc), and one minute into 60 ...
£10,000 (equivalent to £1.83 million in 2023 [10]) for a method that could determine longitude within 1 degree (equivalent to 60 nautical miles (110 km; 69 mi) at the equator). £15,000 (equivalent to £2.74 million in 2023 [10]) for a method that could determine longitude within 40 minutes.
The numerical values for latitude and longitude can occur in a number of different units or formats: [2] sexagesimal degree: degrees, minutes, and seconds : 40° 26′ 46″ N 79° 58′ 56″ W; degrees and decimal minutes: 40° 26.767′ N 79° 58.933′ W; decimal degrees: +40.446 -79.982; There are 60 minutes in a degree and 60 seconds in a ...
On the GRS 80 or WGS 84 spheroid at sea level at the Equator, one latitudinal second measures 30.715 m, one latitudinal minute is 1843 m and one latitudinal degree is 110.6 km. The circles of longitude, meridians, meet at the geographical poles, with the west–east width of a second naturally decreasing as latitude increases.