magnetic declination

British  

noun

1. Also called: declination.   magnetic variation.  the angle that a compass needle makes with the direction of the geographical north pole at any given point on the earth's surface

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magnetic declination Scientific  

1. The horizontal angle between the true geographic North Pole and the magnetic north pole, as figured from a specific point on the Earth.

2. Compare magnetic inclination

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Example Sentences

Men were invited to believe that a subterranean freely-rotating nucleus occasions by its position the diurnal and annual changes of magnetic declination.

From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Humboldt, Alexander von

Webb at once proceeded to take full magnetic declination, time and azimuth observations, Laseron recording for him.

From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Mawson, Douglas, Sir

In 1851 Lament, a Scotchman at Munich, found a decennial period in the daily range of magnetic declination.

From History of Astronomy by Forbes, George

There was nothing to do but use the three-inch theodolite, which, setting to one degree, would give a good result, with a mean of thirty-two settings, for a region with such variable magnetic declination.

From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Mawson, Douglas, Sir

With us the magnetic declination is a minimum at about eight o’clock in the morning, and is greatest at two o’clock in the afternoon.

From The Philosophy of the Weather And a Guide to Its Changes by Butler, Thomas Belden