equator definition geography

This makes the equator 0.16% longer than a meridian (a great circle passing through the two poles). For example, by WSG-84, the distance is 1,855.3248 metres (6,087.024 ft), while by IAU-2000, it is 1,855.3257 metres (6,087.027 ft). The Equator is an imaginary line around the center of the Earth, dividing it into the North and South Hemispheres. The equator passes through the land of 11 countries. The highest point on the equator is at the elevation of 4,690 metres (15,387 ft), at 0°0′0″N 77°59′31″W / 0.00000°N 77.99194°W / 0.00000; -77.99194 (highest point on the equator), found on the southern slopes of Volcán Cayambe [summit 5,790 metres (18,996 ft)] in Ecuador. Near the equator, this means the variation in strength of solar radiation is different relative to the time of year than it is at higher latitudes: Maximum solar radiation is received during the equinoxes, when a place at the equator is under the subsolar point at high noon, and the intermediate seasons of spring and autumn occur at higher latitudes, and the minimum occurs during both solstices, when either pole is tilted towards or away from the sun, resulting in either summer or winter in both hemispheres. Because the sun is closer to the equator, than the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn Evidence: Professorial Geography Teacher, currently running my own Geography A-Level Course (like a school) Pronunciation: (i-kwā'tur), — n. (ē-kwā'tŏr), [TA] A line encircling a globular body, equidistant at all points from the two poles; the periphery of a plane cutting a sphere at the midpoint of, and at right angles to, its axis. The celestial equator refers to the circle that results when one imaginarily projects the terrestrial equator against the background of the fixed stars. The hemisphere turned toward the sun receives more sunlight and is in summer, while the other hemisphere receives less sun and is in winter (see solstice). However, its island of Annobón is 155 km (96 mi) south of the equator, and the rest of the country lies to the north. At the equator, the snow line is around 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) lower than on Mount Everest and as much as 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) lower than the highest snow line in the world, near the Tropic of Capricorn on Llullaillaco. Nevertheless, temperatures are high year round due to the earth's axial tilt of 23.5° not being enough to create a low minimum midday declination to sufficiently weaken the sun's rays even during the solstices. To a person on Earth, the Sun appears to travel above the equator (or along the celestial equator) at these times. Find more ways to say equator, along with related words, antonyms and example phrases at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. If you could cut the Earth in half, the Equator would be the line where both hemispheres meet. The GRS 80 (Geodetic Reference System 1980) as approved and adopted by the IUGG at its Canberra, Australia meeting of 1979 has an equatorial radius of 6,378.137 km (3,963.191 mi). Equator definition: The equator is an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth at an equal distance from... | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples the equator: an imaginary circle around the middle of the Earth that is the same distance from the North Pole and the South Pole. The latitude of the Earth's equator is, by definition, 0° (zero degrees) of arc. The Atlantic Ocean (at the Gulf of Guinea and the Perigoso Canal) 2. In other words, it is the intersection of the spheroid with the plane perpendicular to its axis of rotation and midway between its geographical poles. There is a widespread maritime tradition of holding ceremonies to mark a sailor's first crossing of the equator. The equator is important as a reference point for navigation and geography. Temperate climates are found a bit further south, and as you approach the equator you find Mediterranean and desert climates. Here, the prevailing trade winds of the northern hemisphere blow to the southwest and collide with the southern hemisphere’s driving … The earth is commonly modeled as a sphere flattened 0.336% along its axis. How to use equator in a sentence. On and near the Equator sunlight comes from almost directly above every day year-round, and thus the Equator has a rather stable daytime temperature the whole year. See more. The latitude of the Earth's equator is, by definition, 0° (zero degrees) of arc. DEFINITION. Southern latitudes can also be expressed as negative number where -90° is at the South Pole. The plane of Earth's equator, when projected outwards to the celestial sphere, defines the celestia… As the name Ecuador might suggest, the country is located on the equator, with its neighboring countries being Columbia to the north and Peru on the … It is identified as the latitude that falls at the point that is equidistant from the North Pole and the South Pole. Experts can attempt the prime meridian or the tropic of breast cancer. The Equator is an imaginary circle around Earth. Lines of latitude run parallel to the Equator. The Equator is the line of 0 degrees latitude. Climatology defination nature and scope the study of the earth falls into four broad categories i. Geographical study involves the earth its aspects and formation process causal and spatial relation of humans with their environment also the interaction of humans with the environment around them. See more. By definition, the latitude of the Earth’s equator is 0 degrees, while the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn each lie at 23.5 degrees latitude. Some of the hottest places on … Geography definition nature and scope. It's an imaginary line that divides the Earth into two equal halves, and it forms the halfway point between the South Pole and the North Pole at 0 degrees latitude, according to National Geographic. Giga-fren. The equator divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Equinox definition, the time when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator, making night and day of approximately equal length all over the earth and occurring about March 21 (vernal equinox, or spring equinox ) and September 22 (autumnal equinox ). DEFINITION. The equator is defined as an imaginary line drawn on the Earth and spaced equally between the North and South Pole. Parallels are used to measure distances in degrees north or south of the equator. The distance around the Earth at the Equator, its circumference, is 40,075 kilometers (24,901 miles). How to use hemisphere in a sentence. The tropics are distinguished from the other climatic and biotic regions of Earth, which are the middle latitudes and the polar regions on … See more. Lines of latitude run parallel to the Equator. During Saturn's equinoxes, the rings (and Saturn's equator) line up perfectly with the sun. This is one of those lines known as a latitude line. Seasons result from the tilt of the Earth's axis compared to the plane of its revolution around the Sun. Learner's definition of EQUATOR. The geographic coordinates of New York City, for example, are 40° N, 74° W, meaning that it is located 40 degrees north latitude and 74 degrees west longitude. … In geography, latitude is the distance on the earth’s surface, north or south of the Equator, expressed in angular measurements from 0° at the Equator to 90° (North or South). Lowlands around the equator generally have a tropical rainforest climate, also known as an equatorial climate, though cold ocean currents cause some regions to have tropical monsoon climates with a dry season in the middle of the year, and the Somali Current generated by the Asian monsoon due to continental heating via the high Tibetan Plateau causes Greater Somalia to have an arid climate despite its equatorial location. In geography, latitude is the distance on the earth’s surface, north or south of the Equator, expressed in angular measurements from 0° at the Equator to 90° (North or South). The north pole is north of the Equator and the south pole is south of the Equator. Although the rings extend thousands of kilometers into space, they are actually very thin, only about a kilometer wide. 3. a circle separating a surface into two congruent parts. Latitude and longitude, coordinate system by means of which the position or location of any place on Earth’s surface can be determined and described. If you could cut the Earth in half, the Equator would be the line where both hemispheres meet. equator definition: 1. an imaginary line drawn around the middle of the earth an equal distance from the North Pole and…. The added velocity reduces the fuel needed to launch spacecraft eastward (in the direction of Earth's rotation) to orbit, while simultaneously avoiding costly maneuvers to flatten inclination during missions such as the Apollo moon landings. Find more ways to say equator, along with related words, antonyms and example phrases at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. Equator Pure Nature seeks to improve people's lives by promoting the replacement of chemical cleaning products with natural, healthy cleaning products, which products EPN believes can both decrease rates of allergies and asthma and decrease the contamination of the environment. Anything lying north of the Equator is in the Northern Hemisphere and is labelled °N. 4. celestial equator. Here, the prevailing trade winds of the northern hemisphere blow to the southwest and collide with the southern hemisphere’s driving … Find out more with Bitesize KS2 Geography. https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Equator+(geography), [1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin, two points on the surface of the earth diametrically opposite each other. BSL Geography Glossary - Equator - definition. The heat equator, or line of maximum mean surface temperature, starts from the African coast in about 5° N. 236 142 Of the parallels of latitude, the equator only is a great circle. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. At the equator there is a tropical climate, and travelling south of the equator it gets cooler again before reaching the Antarctic. The sun is perpendicular to the Equator twice a … The city of Quito, Ecuador, lies very close to the equator. Lake Victoria (in Kenya) 4. Latitude is the measurement of distance north or south of the Equator.It is measured with 180 imaginary lines that form circles around the Earth east-west, parallel to the Equator. Each parallel measures one degree north or south of the Equator, with 90 degrees north of the Equator and 90 degrees south of the Equator. The Indian Ocean (between the Huvadhu … The equator is a line which is not real drawn around a sphere or planet, such as the Earth. The tropics are distinguished from the other climatic and biotic regions of Earth, which are the middle latitudes and the polar regions on … Learner's definition of EQUATOR. How to use equator in a sentence. Near the equator, there is little temperature change throughout the year, though there may be dramatic differences in rainfall and humidity. Aviation Week and Space Technology on 9 October 1961 reported that measurements using the Transit IV-A satellite had shown the equatorial diameter from longitude 11° West to 169° East to be 1,000 feet (305 m) greater than its diameter ninety degrees away. It is one of the lines known as a line of latitude, or circle of latitude. It runs east and west halfway between the North and South poles. The terms summer, autumn, winter and spring do not generally apply. Latitude is a system of imaginary east-west lines, called parallels, that encircle the Earth parallel to the equator. [5] This equatorial radius is also in the 2003 and 2010 IERS Conventions. It is the southern-most position on the globe, where the Sun is directly overhead during the December Solstice. The Pacific Ocean (between Aranuka and Nonouti atolls in Kiribati) 3. This effect must be accounted for in detailed geophysical measurements. All lines are parallel to each other and are thus also known as parallels. At the equinoxes, the Earth's axis is perpendicular to the sun rather than tilted toward or away, meaning that day and night are both about 12 hours long across the whole of the Earth. A circle of latitude is an imaginary ring linking all points sharing a parallel. [citation needed], Intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and midway between the poles, "Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations", https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/millions-of-years-ago-the-poles-moved-and-it-could-have-triggered-an-ice-age, "The IAU 2009 system of astronomical constants: the report of the IAU working group on numerical standards for Fundamental Astronomy", "General definitions and numerical standards", "Memoria Técnica de la Determinación de la Latitud Cero", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Equator&oldid=995778585, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2012, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2015, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Passing 4.3 km (2.7 mi) north of the border with, This page was last edited on 22 December 2020, at 21:07. The plane of Earth's equator, when projected outwards to the celestial sphere, defines the celestial equator. Latitude has three different kinds. An imaginary line around the Earth midway between the poles. Geocentric; Astronomical; Geographic Did You Know? Brush up on your geography and finally learn what countries are in Eastern Europe with our maps. In the past, these ceremonies have been notorious for their brutality, especially in naval practice. 1. the great circle on a sphere or heavenly body whose plane is perpendicular to the axis and everywhere equidistant from the poles. For both GRS 80 and WGS 84, this results in a length for the equator of 40,075.0167 km (24,901.4609 mi). Latitude definition at Dictionary.com, a free online dictionary with pronunciation, synonyms and translation. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. 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