Earth
As of 2012 the most used prime meridian for the Earth is the IERS Reference Meridian (IRM). It passes about 5.3 arcseconds east of Airy's transit circle or about 102 metres (335 ft) at the latitude of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London. A current convention on the Earth uses the opposite of the IRM as the basis for the International Date Line.
Read more about this topic: Prime Meridian
Famous quotes containing the word earth:
“I am not aware that any man has ever built on the spot which I occupy. Deliver me from a city built on the site of a more ancient city, whose materials are ruins, whose gardens cemeteries. The soil is blanched and accursed there, and before that becomes necessary the earth itself will be destroyed.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“If the sky stands still, if the earth quakes, if there is famine, if there is pestilence, at once the cry is raised: Throw the Christians to the lions! So many to one?”
—Tertullian (c. 150–230)
“This whole earth which we inhabit is but a point in space.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)