PRIME MERIDIAN

The Prime Meridian is considered as the middle point of earth. It divides

the Earth into East/West from the North Pole to the South Pole with an
imaginary line along the longitude line of 0°.

The Antimeridian, at 180° longitude, connects with the Prime Meridian to

form a 3D giant circle all around the Globe, dividing it into Eastern and
Western hemispheres.

The first person to consistently use the notion of longitude and meridian
was the Greek geographer Ptolemy. Ptolemy’s prime meridian was about
20°W of where it is today.

The prime meridian is also the home of Coordinated Universal Time

(UTC), which is a constant time and used to measure all other times. It used
to be known as GMT, Greenwich Mean Time.

The established and modern prime meridian is now based in the Royal
Observatory in Greenwich, a part of the legal territories of England, in the
year 1884.

There are prime meridians on other planets and our Moon. The one on Mars
was eventually called Airy-0, in a hat-tip to Sir George Bidell Airy who
built an instrument called the transit circle for timing the passage of stars
across the local meridian.

A prime meridian is ultimately arbitrary which is determined by the axis of

rotation.

The prime meridian is also used as the basis for the world's time zones.

The Prime Meridian runs through Greenwich, England and is at 0°

longitude.

The Meridian’s position is marked in hundreds of places, but the best place
to see this all important imaginary line is in Greenwich Park in London.
 INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE

 The International Date Line is an imaginary line located halfway around

the world at roughly 180 degrees longitude that separates one day from the
next.

 The IDL has no force in international law. The line is one of convenience,
any given day has to start and end somewhere and it is not recognized as a
legal entity.

 The IDL zigzags quite a bit. Countries near the international date line have
moved it over the years to take into account their needs or concerns. One
of the biggest zigs occurs around Kiribati, an island nation of 32 atolls that
straddles the equator.

 It addresses the phenomenon of gaining or losing a day noticed by

Ferdinand Magellan and literary character Phileas Fogg.

 The International Date Line (IDL) separates two consecutive calendar

days. People crossing the line from East to the West skip forward a day.
Those crossing from the West to the East repeat the day.

CHLOE NIRAH B. LACTAM