Latitudes, Longitudes and the Polar Coordinate System

In the early times, mathematicians and astronomers observed that the stars rotate about a point near the star now known as Polaris.  This is one of the bases why some of them, particularly Copernicus, believed that the Earth spins on its axis and revolves around the sun.

north-pole

The longitude, the “vertical divisions” of Earth, meet at the North and the South Poles. With the addition of latitudes, the Earth’s “horizontal divisions,” a view of these lines from one of the poles is shown above. The longitudes appear as lines radiating from the pole (the center) and the latitudes as concentric circles. The largest circle is the equator. » Read more