Jump to content

Magnetic midnight

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bernanke's Crossbow (talk | contribs) at 23:52, 12 September 2023 (→top: wikipedia is not a how-to manual). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

In the field of astronomy, the magnetic midnight of the North or South Magnetic Pole occurs when the pole is exactly between the sun and an observer on Earth's surface. At that moment, the pole's aurora reaches its largest extent.[1]

Because Earth's magnetic poles do not coincide with its geographical poles—the angle between Earth's rotation axis and magnetic axis is about 11°—magnetic midnight differs from conventional midnight. In most of the United States, magnetic midnight occurs about an hour earlier.[2]

References

  1. ^ McGraw-Hill Book Company (2002). McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of science and technology. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-913665-7.
  2. ^ "EAAE - Aurora Borealis - Measuring the magnetic field".


Stub icon

This article about geography terminology is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Stub icon

This standards- or measurement-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Stub icon

This time-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Magnetic_midnight&oldid=1175127367"