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Magnetic north is the direction that the north end of a magnetized compass needle points, which corresponds to the direction of the Earth's magnetic field lines. True north is the direction along a meridian towards the geographic North Pole. Somewhat more formally, Bowditch defines variation as "the angle between the magnetic and geographic ...
The local angular difference between magnetic north and true north is called the magnetic declination. Most map coordinate systems are based on true north, and magnetic declination is often shown on map legends so that the direction of true north can be determined from north as indicated by a compass. [28]
True south is the direction opposite to the true north. It is important to make the distinction from magnetic north, which points towards an ever changing location close to the True North Pole determined Earth's magnetic field. Due to fundamental limitations in map projection, true north also differs from the grid north which is marked by the ...
British explorer Sir James Clark Ross discovered the magnetic north pole in 1831 in northern Canada, approximately 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) south of the true North Pole.
In 2019, for example, changes to magnetic north had exceeded the threshold for accurate navigation, ... won’t check back in on magnetic north’s true placement until the tail end of 2029.
If the reference direction is north (either true north, magnetic north, or grid north), the bearing is termed an absolute bearing. In a contemporary land navigation context, true, magnetic, and grid bearings are always measured in this way, with true north, magnetic north, or grid north being 0° in a 360-degree system. [5]
Compass needles in the northern hemisphere point in the direction of the magnetic North Pole, and the location varies as a result of the changing contours of Earth's magnetic fields.
A typical procedure for measuring its direction is to use a compass to determine the direction of magnetic North. Its angle relative to true North is the declination (D) or variation. Facing magnetic North, the angle the field makes with the horizontal is the inclination (I) or magnetic dip.