General Question

Yellowdog's avatar

At the North Pole, are east and west just a horizontal circle around the pole?

Asked by Yellowdog (12216points) March 9th, 2019

Since there are no east and west, only southward, at the pole, it makes me wonder where they are. I have a pretty good sense of direction, but having no east or west baffles me. They HAD to go somewhere as we move northward (or southward).

It would seem to me that east and west, which can never be reached, would become circles around the pole as we near it. The sun and the celestial sphere would go in circles around the fulcrum or north point in the sky.

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3 Answers

zenvelo's avatar

That is correct, at latitude 89 degrees, 59 minutes, 59 seconds, facing north, west is to your left and east is to your right. And each step left or right crosses many degrees of longitude. You cross a lot of time zones as you walk a small circle.

zenvelo (39546points)“Great Answer” (2points) Flag as…
Yellowdog's avatar

So at the pole itself, turning around to your left is travelling east and turning your body around towards the right is traveling west, Cool. Maybe the Hokey Pokey really IS what its all about.

Yellowdog (12216points)“Great Answer” (2points) Flag as…
Caravanfan's avatar

Correct. At the North Pole there is no such thing as east and west. There is only South.

Caravanfan (13787points)“Great Answer” (2points) Flag as…

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