The equator divides the planet into the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere and is located at 0 degrees latitude, the halfway line between the North Pole and South Pole. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. . Earth bulges slightly at the equator; the "average" diameter of Earth is 12,750 km (7,922 mi), but the diameter at the equator is about 43 km (27 mi) greater than at the poles. There's no special name for that length. The official name of the nation is República del Ecuador, which in English translates to “The Republic of the Equator.” Countries On The Equator Are Ideal Locations Of Spaceports The Equator appears on maps and globes. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Geological samples show the equator significantly changed positions between 12 and 48 million years ago, as sediment deposited by ocean thermal currents at the equator have shifted. [3], The precise location of the equator is not truly fixed; the true equatorial plane is perpendicular to the Earth's rotation axis, which drifts about 9 metres (30 ft) during a year. [Middle English, from Medieval Latin aequātor (diēī et noctis), equalizer (of day and night), from Latin aequāre, to equalize; see equate .] Asked By administrator @ 26/01/2020 12:16 AM. [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=1016726724, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, 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 8 April 2021, at 19:00. This also results in a corresponding movement of the equator away from the subsolar point, which is then situated over or near the relevant tropic circle. A. the tropics B. the doldrums C. the Arctic Circle D. the Bermuda Triangle. The Equator is a massive but imaginary line that runs across the middle of Earth, dividing the planet into northern and southern hemispheres. Small departures from this average orientation are caused by rotation of the tilted dipole magnetic field once per day and by revolution of Earth around the Sun once per year. Imaginary equator in the sky. However, its island of Annobón is 155 km (96 mi) south of the equator, and the rest of the country lies to the north. The Navy is chock full of myth and tradition, and what happens at sea even affects our language. In fact, the official name of Ecuador - the Republic of Ecuador literally translates to "Republic of the Equator". The earth is commonly modeled as a sphere flattened 0.336% along its axis. Examine the population chart of niger. Is the sunniest place on Earth at the Equator? [5] This equatorial radius is also in the 2003 and 2010 IERS Conventions. The latitude of the Equator is zero degrees. The other four include the Arctic Circle, the Antarctic Circle, the Tropic of Cancer , and the Tropic of Capricorn . The equator is the only line on the Earth's surface that is considered a great circle. When the Sun lies in its plane, day and night are everywhere of equal length, a twice-per-year occurrence known as equinox. The deposits by thermal currents are determined by the axis of the earth, which determines solar coverage of the Earth's surface. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... World map with the Equator marked by a red line. Corrections? It is equidistant from the North and South Poles, and divides the globe into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. What is the name for the area of calm winds near the equator. This effect must be accounted for in detailed geophysical measurements. Hence, there will be two points on the celestial sphere where the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator and two instants during the year when the Sun is at its greatest angular distance from the celestial equator. Thus, the celestial equator and the ecliptic do not lie on the same plane, but cross each other at an angle of 23.5 degrees. Related Questions in Geography. 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). The terms summer, autumn, winter and spring do not generally apply. It is the imaginary line on the spheroid, equidistant from its poles, dividing it into northern and southern hemispheres. The strong warming of this area of the place to ascending currents as well as a warm and oppressive atmosphere, feared in other times by the Captains of the sailboats that had to cross it. Parallels are used to measure distances in degrees north or south of the Equator. Many naval traditions, from the Sirens and Sea Monsters of the Odyssey to the boatswain's call, date back hundreds and even thousands of years.. In the past, these ceremonies have been notorious for their brutality, especially in naval practice. In astronomy, the celestial equator is the great circle in which the plane of the terrestrial Equator intersects the celestial sphere; it consequently is equidistant from the celestial poles. Are there places on Earth that have never been surveyed? The equator is the only line of latitude which is also a great circle—that is, one whose plane passes through the center of the globe. Noun. The Earth's equator is an imaginary planetary line that is about 40,075 km (24,901 mi) long in circumference. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, This article was most recently revised and updated by, Social Studies for Kids - The Equator and the Prime Meridian, National Geographic Society - Encyclopedic Entry - Equator, Equator - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Equator - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Large departures are caused by changes in the direction of the IMF relative to…. 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. The equator thus qualifies as a great circle because it passes through the exact center of the Earth and divides it in half. This geographic, or terrestrial, Equator divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres and forms the imaginary reference line on the Earth’s surface from which latitude is reckoned; in other words, it is the line with 0° latitude. It originated from Old Javanese and literally means " archipelago ". What is the name given to the imaginary line located at 0° tha… What are the names of the imaginary lines that run east to wes… Which two countries dominate the. equator definition: 1. an imaginary line drawn around the middle of the earth an equal distance from the North Pole and…. The equator passes through the land of 11 countries. The region of the Earth, centered on the equator and lying between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn and characterized by a hot climate. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Near the equator, there is little temperature change throughout the year, though there may be dramatic differences in rainfall and humidity. From 1880 to 2019 less than 5 people per year have been born with the first name Equator. But to be precise, that it not correct. It is the starting point for the measuring system called latitude. 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). The IUGG standard meridian is, to the nearest millimetre, 40,007.862917 kilometres (24,859.733480 mi), one arc-minute of which is 1,852.216 metres (6,076.82 ft), explaining the SI standardization of the nautical mile as 1,852 metres (6,076 ft), more than 3 metres (9.8 ft) less than the geographical mile. The equator is an imaginary line splitting the globe into two hemispheres. 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. [citation needed] Milder line-crossing ceremonies, typically featuring King Neptune, are also held for passengers' entertainment on some civilian ocean liners and cruise ships. American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. The name "equator" is Latin for "even-maker"; at equator the day and night are exactly the same length around the year. Despite its name, no part of Equatorial Guinea lies on the equator. One international nautical mile = 1,852 meters exactly. In the cycle of Earth's seasons, the equatorial plane runs through the Sun twice per year: on the equinoxes in March and September. The sea-level surface of the Earth (the geoid) is irregular, so the actual length of the equator is not so easy to determine. The Line Crossing Ceremony might just be the most interesting of today's naval traditions.. A Time-Honored Tradition 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. Fun Facts about the name Equator When was the first name Equator first recorded in the United States? The plane of Earth's equator, when projected outwards to the celestial sphere, defines the celestial equator. Why is the Equator called the Equator? The equator is a line which is not real drawn around a sphere or planet, such as the Earth. Average annual temperatures in equatorial lowlands are around 31 °C (88 °F) during the afternoon and 23 °C (73 °F) around sunrise. The Equator is an imaginary line perpendicular to this axis. 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 imaginary lines circling the globe in an east-west direction are called the lines of latitude (or parallels, as they are parallel to the equator).They are used to measure distances north and south of the equator.The lines circling the globe in a north-south direction are called lines of longitude (or meridians). How to use equator in a sentence. The length of daylight (sunrise to sunset) is almost constant throughout the year; it is about 14 minutes longer than nighttime due to atmospheric refraction and the fact that sunrise begins (or sunset ends) as the upper limb, not the center, of the Sun's disk contacts the horizon. In spatial (3D) geometry, as applied in astronomy, the equator of a rotating spheroid (such as a planet) is the parallel (circle of latitude) at which latitude is defined to be 0°. The word, equator, comes from the same place as the word "equal" -- it divides the earth in equal sections. The equator divides the planet into the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere and is located at 0 degrees latitude, the halfway line between the North Pole and South Pole.[1]. "An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and midway between the poles. The climate at the equator has a special name called the equatorial climate. Rainfall is very high away from cold ocean current upwelling zones, from 2,500 to 3,500 mm (100 to 140 in) per year. Latitude is a system of imaginary east-west lines, called parallels, that circle Earth parallel to the Equator. Updates? Equator, great circle around the Earth that is everywhere equidistant from the geographic poles and lies in a plane perpendicular to the Earth’s axis. The latitude of the Earth's equator is, by definition, 0° (zero degrees) of arc.