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How does the angle of Polaris changes as the latitude increases?
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
Polaris' "elevation" ... its angle above your horizon ... is very close to
the north latitude of the place where you're located when you see it.
So, as your north latitide increases, the elevation of Polaris also increases.
And as you travel south, the elevation of Polaris decreases, until it's on
your northern horizon when you reach the equator.
Place . . . . . Elevation of Polaris
North pole . . . 90 degrees (over your head)
Anchorage . . 61 degrees
Oslo . . . . . . 59.9 degrees
Stockholm . . . 59.3
Moscow . . . . 55.8
Copenhagen . . . 55.7
Dublin . . . . . . 53.3
Berlin . . . . . . 52.5
London . . . . . 51.5
Winnipeg . . . . 50
Paris . . . . . . . 48.9
Ottawa . . . . 45.4
Salem OR . . . 45
Rome . . . . . . 42
Philadelphia . . . 40
Ankara, Beijing . . . 39.9
Washington . . . 38.9
Athens . . . . . 38
San Francisco . . . 37.8
Seoul . . . . . . 37.5
Las Vegas . . . 36.2
Tokyo . . . . . . 35.7
Los Angeles . . . 34
Casablanca . . . 33.6
Baghdad . . . . 33.3
Tripoli, Dallas . . . 32.8
Jerusalem . . . 31.8
Houston, Cairo . . . 30
Delhi . . . . . . 28.7
Miami . . . . . 25.8
Havana . . . . 23.1
Honolulu, Hanoi . . . 21
Guantanamo . . . 20
Mexico City . . . 19.4
Mumbai . . . . . 19.1
Quezon City . . . 14.6
Caracas . . . . 10.5
Singapore . . . 1.2
On the equator . . . Polaris is on the horizon.
South of the equator . . . you never see Polaris
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
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What is the relation between a particular latitude and the angle of polaris above the horizon at that latitude?
whatever latitude you are at, that is the angle to polaris.. and the other way around
How are the altitude of polaris and latitude of an observer related?
angle it makes with respect to horizon is equal to observers latitude. i.e. Philadelphia latitude 40 degrees so Polaris 40 degrees above horizon
If the angle between Polaris and the horizon is 40 degress what is your approximate latitude?
The latitude would also be approximately 40 degrees in this case.
How do you measure latitude by polaris?
Polaris (or the North Star) is almost directly above the North pole. This means that when you stand on the north pole and look directly up, you will see Polaris. This also means that when you stand at the equator and look directly north, you will see Polaris on the horizon. You can not see Polaris from the Southern Hemisphere. The angle Polaris is above the horizon is equal to the degree latitude that you are standing on. Therefore at the equator, Polaris is 0 degrees above the horizon and at the north pole, Polaris is 90 degrees above the horizon.
What happens to the altitude of polaris as you move west?
The angle of Polaris above the northern horizon increases.
How can you determine your latitude in the northern hemisphere just by using a star?
The angle between the north star and your northern horizon is approximately the same as your latitude north of the equator.
What is the relationship between a particular latitude and the angle of Polaris above the horizon at that latitude?
The angle of Polaris above the northern horizon is very nearly equal to your north latitude, within about 1/3 of a degree. So it's over your head when you stand at the north pole, it sits nominally on your north horizon when you stand anywhere on the equator, and if you're south of the equator, you can never see it at all.
How do you find the angle of the altitude of Polaris?
The angle of the altitude of Polaris is equal to the observer's latitude. However, this is only true if you are in the Northern Hemisphere. For example, at the North Pole it is directly overhead and at the equator it is on the horizon and at 45 degrees North it is 45 degrees above you.
What is the approximate latitude of Polaris in New York?
Polaris (the "North Star") doesn't have a latitude. But that's OK, because latitude is not what you're looking for. You're really trying to ask for its "elevation" ... the angle between the horizon and Polaris in the sky. That angle is equal to the observer's north latitude, so it would be easy to answer if we knew what location you're actually interested in. Here are a few possibilities: -- Massena NY . . . . . 44.9° above the northern horizon -- Rochester NY . . . . 43.2° above the northern horizon -- Buffalo NY . . . . . . 42.9° above the northern horizon -- 85th St Transverse in Central Park, Manhattan . . . 40.8° above the northern horizon
How did stars help us find are way north to south?
In the northern hemisphere, we used to rely on locating where Polaris is in the sky, which is almost directly over the North Pole. The angle of Polaris above the horizon corresponds to your latitude so Polaris helped many sea navigators to find their was north or south.
What makes polaris useful for night-time navigation?
Polaris just happens to be positioned almost (but not quite exactly!) above the North Pole. So if you are facing Polaris, you are facing almost exactly north. If you measure the altitude of Polaris as an angle above the horizon, you can read your latitude directly on your sextant. It isn't exact; you need to apply a small correction based on the date and time, but it's the easiest latitude measurement you'll ever do. Even without the correction, it is only off by about 2/3 of a minute of arc, or 40 minutes of latitude.
As the angle of incidence increases what does the angle of reflection do?
The angle of reflection increases also.
