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Re: Followon: Meridional parts
From: Chuck Taylor
Date: 1997 Jul 12, 10:33 PM
From: Chuck Taylor
Date: 1997 Jul 12, 10:33 PM
Patrick McVey wrote: > > Why do navigators call this a meridional part? The root of the word "meridional" means "southern". It once referred to the position of the sun at midday, which was to the south for inhabitants of the northern hemisphere. It has come to refer to the meridians of longitude, specifically the length of a meridian of longitude on a Mercator chart, measured from the equator to a particular parallel of latitude. By definition, one meridional part is the length of one minute of longitude at the equator. So, getting back to your question, perhaps it is called that because it is used to measure the length of a meridian. -- Chuck Taylor Everett, WA =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= =-= TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send this message to majordomo@ronin.com: =-= =-= navigation =-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=