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

Now, here is what we know with most certainty as to the magnetic declination of Paris at the epoch in question: Years.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 810, July 11, 1891 by Various

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

While Murphy and Laseron went back two miles to recover them, Webb secured a magnetic declination and I took sun observations for time and azimuth.

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

If there is a true meridian on the map, but not a magnetic meridian, one may be constructed as follows, if the magnetic declination is known: Fig.

From Manual of Military Training Second, Revised Edition by Moss, James A. (James Alfred)