Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. [2] [3] [4] Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( 1 / 60 of a degree) of latitude at the equator, so that Earth's polar circumference is very near to 21,600 nautical miles (that is 60 minutes × 360 degrees).
A diagram illustrating great-circle distance (drawn in red) between two points on a sphere, P and Q. Two antipodal points, u and v are also shown. The great-circle distance, orthodromic distance, or spherical distance is the distance between two points on a sphere, measured along the great-circle arc between them. This arc is the shortest path ...
In celestial navigation, lunar distance, also called a lunar, is the angular distance between the Moon and another celestial body. The lunar distances method uses this angle and a nautical almanac to calculate Greenwich time if so desired, or by extension any other time.
The distance along the great circle will then be s 12 = Rσ 12, where R is the assumed radius of the Earth and σ 12 is expressed in radians. Using the mean Earth radius, R = R 1 ≈ 6,371 km (3,959 mi) yields results for the distance s 12 which are within 1% of the geodesic length for the WGS84 ellipsoid; see Geodesics on an ellipsoid for details.
Used mainly to determine the minimum water depth for safe passage of a vessel and to calculate the vessels displacement (obtained from ships stability tables) so as to determine the mass of cargo on board. Draft, Air – Air Draft/Draught is the distance from the water line to the highest point on a ship (including antennas) while it is loaded ...
Navigation that follows the shortest distance between two points, i.e., that which follows a great circle. Such routes yield the shortest distance between two points on the globe. [16] To calculate the bearing and distance between two points it is necessary to solve a spherical triangle whose vertices are the origin, the destination, and the ...
This rule of thumb is incredibly powerful in the aviation environment. It states that for each degree off (or displacement) over a distance of 60 nautical miles (NM), it will result in 1 NM off course. It can be applied in various areas of interest when flying, and is easily remembered.
The haversine formula determines the great-circle distance between two points on a sphere given their longitudes and latitudes.Important in navigation, it is a special case of a more general formula in spherical trigonometry, the law of haversines, that relates the sides and angles of spherical triangles.