North

North or north is a cardinal. The north or the north direction is used for navigation and for specifying coordinates.

Word origin and other names

The name is derived from the Old High German nord, and the Indo-European unit ner for left or from what is possibly due to the "left of the Rising Sun ".

In Norse mythology, the four dwarves Nordri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri wear the skull of Ymir, from which the Æsir built the vault of heaven, Nordri is the dwarf of the North.

Other names for the "North" are or were:

• Midnight, after the time at which the sun is in this direction.
• Latin Septentrio (, Seven Dreschochsen '), based on the seven stars of the Big Dipper constellation as the Romans - today called Italian Settentrionale, north '
• Ancient Greek Ἄρκτος, Arktos, Arktus for, [ Large ] Bear ', the constellation of which Arctic, the land north ' and Antarctica (anti- Arctic, Arctic Against ' antipodes of the Arctic, the legendary, Southland ')
• AltGr. βορέας Boreas, the North Wind ', borealis, north ' (today, subarctic ' in terms such as boreal, boreal coniferous forest or boreal climate level, boreal shield ), also known as Hyperborea (hyper -, in addition '), the Scythian northern land of the Greeks nor receive iperboreo in Italian, north '
• In China are the earthly branch of mouse or rat ( chinese子, pinyin zǐ ) and the trigram ☵ water (坎Chinese, Pinyin Kan) symbolic of the north.

Definitions

Colloquially and navigation are with North or north called different things:

Maps are as a chart and with the exception of maps of the polar regions created so that the north facing the top of the sheet. Deviates from a map of this Convention, the North direction is usually indicated by a compass rose.

Also on the other planets of our solar system, there is the compass direction north, even there, she points to the north pole, ie the pole in the direction of the axis of rotation of the planet.

Determining the direction of North

To determine the north direction are several methods:

• True North can be determined with the aid of a gyro using a magnetic compass, taking account of declination and deviation or by bearing with the aid of a map or chart.
• Magnetic compass north and magnetic north are most easily found with a ( DF ) magnetic compass. Will he read at a sufficient distance from the same current-carrying parts and magnetic materials, the deviation in most parts of the earth is much smaller than the reading error and thus negligible.
• By using an analog clock and the sun's position, the north direction can be determined with an accuracy of about 15 ° when you're north of the Tropic of Cancer. The bisector between the aligned to the sun small hands and the 12- clock - brand points south. The prerequisite is that the sun by 12 clock reaches its highest daily level and the clock has a 12- hour dial. During the summer time, the clock must therefore be (at least in thought ) back one hour, just need the time to be adjusted, if necessary, at the geographical edges of a time zone. Depending on the time zone, this adjustment can take up to two hours to be large ( eg, Canada or Greenland).
• In the area there are several characters that allow a rough guide. In Germany, for example, most satellite dishes are aligned on Astra satellite (19.2 ° relative to east) and thus show as opposed to the north. Even the moss from trees or roofs can give a rough indication as it is strongest in the main weather direction. Main weather direction in Central Europe is northwest.
• At night, under a clear sky by direction finding of the Polar Star. For this purpose needs to be pulled vertically downwards to the horizon a line starting from the pole star. Where the line meets the horizon is the north direction. This can be done eg with a lot, so a string with a weight at one end, to perform. The loose end of the solder is held at arms length with your fingers and put the thread just above the North Star. The weight will pull the thread straight down and where the filament intersects the horizon apparently, is north. However, this method does not work in the vicinity of the North Pole, since Polaris is almost directly above the observer, who would therefore have to hold the Lot over his head. So that a direction finding on the suture would no longer be possible. But the further one approaches the equator, the shorter the distance between Polaris and the horizon and the more accurate the method. In Germany with an angle of about 50 ° between Polaris and the horizon is quite well used.