The three cardinal norths that exist, the geographic norththe Magnetic North and the Northern Lambert either gridcoincide since last Wednesday at a single point in British territory, for the first time in centuries.
You might be surprised to know that the convergence of the three cardinal norths It has not occurred in the North Pole, or in a Nordic country, as seems logical (north always points up), but in… the United Kingdom, specifically, in Langton Matraver, near Swanage in Dorsetaccording to the Ordnance Survey, which is the UK’s mapping agency.
In reality, this convergence continues up the UK, towards the North Pole, but it no longer crosses any town.
Why are there three different norths?
The data is very curious, and raises a few questions. We are supposed to use the compass points to guide us… but how can you trust them when they seem to be moving?
Indeed, at least some of these reference points, in particular the magnetic ones, do move, so you have to take that into account.
Why are there three different Norths? Because one alone does not solve all navigation problems.
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The geographic north either real It is the one that marks the imaginary axis on which the Earth rotates. It can be found by searching for the Pole Star.
The magnetic north It is the one indicated by the compasses, conditioned by the magnetic attraction of the interior of the Earth, which fluctuates. That is why this North changes position often.
The Northern Lambert, Grid North either UTM It is the north that we obtain when projecting the geographic North of a sphere, such as the Earth, on a flat map like the ones we use in Google Maps or similar.
You can see convergence explained in this video:
What’s unusual about the moment is that magnetic North is doing some pretty weird stuff lately, and now it’s in a position it hasn’t been in for a long time.”hundreds of yearsAccording to a representative of the Ordnance Survey on the BBC.
The convergence of the three Norths in a single point it will facilitate the navigation calculations of ships and planes, which no longer have to correct the routes according to the difference in position of the different Norths. Although this point will appear and disappear over time, as the Earth’s magnetic field varies.