The length of the equator

Most of us the word "equator" is associated with the line that divides our globe into two halves. In this regard, it is not surprising that people wonder: what is the equator? The equator – the imaginary line which exactly intersects the surface of our Earth this plane, which is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the planet and runs right through its center. From the Latin word “aequator" translates as “EQ”. This line – conventional beginning for a count of the geographical latitude at the equator is equal to 0 deg.

The Length of equator is 40 075, 676 km, the rest of the line (parallel) is always less than its length. Throughout his lines constantly day and night are equal. It is the equator divides our planet into two hemispheres, South and North. Twice a year, during the autumn and spring equinoxes, the sun above him is at the Zenith. The spring equinox falls on March 20-21, and autumn – September 23. These days the sun is directly overhead, and the objects do not cast shadows.

The length of the equator, scientists calculated according to the formula 2πR, despite the fact that the Earth is not spherical in shape, and is elongated in the form of an ellipse (ball flattened at the poles). However, the radius of our planet is conventionally adopted for the radius of the ball. The length of the earth at the equator is the longest line running round the Earth. An interesting fact is that it crosses 14 States.

If we move from the Greenwich Meridian to the East, the equator crosses countries such as Sao Tome and Principe in the Atlantic ocean, then the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia in Africa. Moving on the Indian ocean, it passes through the Maldives and Indonesia. In the Pacific ocean crosses the equator, Kiribati and Baker Islands belonging to the USA, then – Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil, which are on the South American continent. These countries are the hottest on the planet.

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The length of the equator was first calculated by the Greek scientist Eratosthenes, who was not only a great mathematician, geographer, and poet but also an astronomer. Measuring time during which the sun's rays reached the bottom of the well, the scientist was able to calculate the radius of the globe and to know what is the length of the equator. These calculations are very approximate, but they pretty much gave succeeding generations of scientists for accurate calculation of the length of this imaginary line. Eratosthenes of Cyrene was born in 276 BC and died in 194 BC

It was one of the greatest scientists of the ancient world. He was born in the Greek city of Cyrene and at the invitation of king Ptolemy III Evergete was head of the Alexandrian library. Died this great scientist from hunger, terrible poverty, but went down in history as an astute researcher with an unorthodox approach to science. The length of the equator on the Eratosthenes was equal to 252 thousand furlongs, accounting for 39 690 km, and a Creator of mathematical and physical geography, Eratosthenes made great discoveries in many fields. Modern man is very difficult to understand, as a scientist, not having any devices figured, what is the length of the equator, with an error of only 386 kilometers.

Many scientists, mathematicians and astronomers subsequently also tried to calculate the length of the equator. Snellius the Dutch in the early seventeenth century suggested to calculate this value without regard to encountered obstacles. In the eighteenth century with such calculations seriously studied by scientists from France. The Russians also did not stay aside and have contributed to science, which allowed to assess the length of the earth's equator. Director of the Pulkovo Observatory V. J. Struve spent these measurements, in degrees, in the period from 1822 to 1852, and in 1941, the Soviet scientist-geodesist F. N. Krasovsky was able to calculate the length of the ground ellipse, that repels modern scientists all over the world, as it is recognized as the global benchmark.