 How big is a degree lat or long? | |
On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 21:40:07 GMT, "Craig Davidson"
<nospam@earthlink.com> wrote:
>Robert Solomon wrote in message ...
>>I was
>>wondering how big a degree is, on the surface that is. Or where should
>>I look?
>a degree of latitude is 60 nautical miles everywhere.
>a degree of longitude is 60 Nautical Miles only at the Equator.
>if not at the equator then the formula is:
> 60 * cosine(latitude) = nautical miles per degree of longitude
Mr Davidson's answer is probably the simplest explanation to someone
who isn't far along with coordinates, but might include the suggestion
that a look at a globe bearing lines of longitude or the illustrations
in a primary book on navigation would help to visualize the 'spatial
relations' involved.
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